Red Eyes
by JFalcon
Summary: Hitomi is a freak, Hara is needy, Miyuki is antisocial. The one thing they have in common is that the only Jounin who can understand them enough to train them is Naruto, and another Great Ninja War is about to begin. Prequel to New Blood, Multiple Pairs.
1. Prologue: Running Home

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any people, places or events from it. The new characters in this story are my own creations, and, like all events that take place in this book, are entirely fictional. Any similarity to persons or events living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

**Note: **Romantically speaking this story has elements of SasuSaku _and _NaruSaku, it has NaruHina and ShikaTema, the rest of the Konoha Twelve don't play much of a role and so aren't romantically linked. It will run for fifteen chapters, give or take. It focuses on Naruto leading a team of ninja wile another Great Ninja War bubbles under the political surface of the five great nations.

It has some of the same elements as New Blood because it's the story New Blood was based on, being revised and rewritten over the old copy for your enjoyment. It's far less ambitious than New Blood though, it is just one Arc, and the named original character cast amounts to seven people, two of whom are dead at the start of chapter one, and another two of whom don't come into play until midway through the story.

**Prologue**

She ran home after class every day.

She was a great runner, she could run fast and for a long time without getting tired, which was good because her father couldn't afford one of the nicer houses, they lived down town in the uglier part of the city.

She ran home to her only sanctuary, keeping her eyes peeled as she ran, hidden behind her darkened sun glasses she still managed to take in all the details as she moved.

Her heart pounded as she neared her block, this was the most dangerous part of the trek: the ending.

Her teeth were chattering, even though she wasn't cold. She wouldn't admit to being afraid either, she knew what was supposed to happen today, she knew she could avoid it if she was fast enough.

But she wasn't.

She saw the skateboard shoved into her path, her eyes didn't miss a thing.

But she tripped over it anyway.

No point giving them more reason to hate her. No reason to let them know any more than they already did . . . she'd pretend she didn't see it, fall, get hurt, and maybe that would be enough.

She tumbled and failed to keep a soft sob from escaping her mouth. Not because of her scraped knee, that was all but self inflicted since she'd _chosen _to trip on the skateboard.

She sobbed for that single instant because they laughed at her and closed in, rather than laughing and leaving. She knew what had to happen now.

As the bigger kids closed in on her, one of them, a girl nearly a head taller than her, and twice as wide pounded her fist into her hand, "You ain't trying to run home _again_, are you? Because you know that would make you the yellowest little chicken around, Freaky."

'Yellowest' wasn't even a word, but rather than point that out the smaller girl kept her mouth shut and stared up behind her sunglases at her harasser.

"We cut the last few minutes of class to be her with you, 'cause we knew your fast little butt would run right on home. For shame, Freaky. You even tried to steal my brother's skateboard. You all saw her try to take it, didn't you?" The girl snickered and her gang agreed.

Her teeth were chattering again.

She didn't want this . . .

"What should we do with this goober?" The big girl asked her cronies.

"Bash her face in, Akane!" One of them shouted.

"Kick the freak's teeth out!" Another girl sneered.

"What do you think, Hijiri, you worthless freak?" Akane asked. "You going to take what you got coming, or do I got to rough you up first?"

What kind of idiotic question was that? Wasn't a roughing up what she "had coming" anyway? That was like asking if she'd like to be beaten once or twice, what idiot chose twice?

"Freaky Hitomi, Freaky Hitomi, how much money do you owe me?" Akane sang, trying to step on Hitomi's fingers.

Hitomi pulled them away too quickly, and horrified that Akane might realize why and unleash hell, she wiped tears from behind her glasses.

They weren't imaginary.

She didn't owe this fat girl any money at all, Akane and her gang just liked taking money for no reason. The only money most kids had was supposed to be for lunch, so after school attacks were rare, and only seemed to happen to Hitomi.

Because Hitomi never carried lunch money before school Akane had told her she'd have to pay after, and either she'd pay cash or she'd pay with blood. What a twisted, stupid thing for a ten year old girl to say.

"How much you got on you now, Freaky, you worthless freak?" Akane sneered. "You got enough to keep from getting your beating? There's the toll for the road, the protection fee, your back payments, and oh yes, just for you, the Freak Tax."

That word was getting tiresome, but in the faint hope that this might be settled without pain Hitomi sobbed once more, pathetically, trying to appeal to whatever goodness might be inside Akane, hoping the older girl would feel at least a little bad about what she was doing.

Akane just laughed, and Hitomi wiped her eyes more furiously.

She didn't want this . . .

"You gonna pay?"

Shaking like a leaf now, Hitomi could only shake her head as she reached into her pocket.

Akane didn't need any sort of verbal confirmation, but then she was a monster of action anyway. She rushed in to kick her victim in the face, Hitomi considered taking the hit.

But why should she suffer injury for this cow? Just because this girl's parents couldn't afford whatever it was Akane and her gang were using all this money for that didn't give her any right to act like an animal. But if it was an animal she wanted, Hijiri Hitomi would give her one.

At the last second Hiromi lunged forward, between Akane's legs and came up, kicking the girl in the back of the knee, toppling her.

The other kids laughed, "Looks like she wants to fight Akane!" Someone shouted.

"I'll kill the little freak!" Akane laughed too.

Hitomi wouldn't let her laugh at her ever again. She jumped on the prone girl and, taking a rock she'd hidden in her pocket she lashed out, slamming the blunt object into the older girl's face.

"Oh crap!" Someone shouted.

"Stupid Freaky can't even fight fair!" Another jeered.

Yeah . . . being a head taller and having five friends was somuch_ fairer_ than keeping a rock no bigger than a baseball in one's pocket. Really, what had stupid Akane thought that bulge was? The money she'd never be getting from Hitomi?

"Gettroffmeh!" Akane howled, holding her face, Hitomi kicked her in the neck and tossed the rock with all her might at one of the larger boys in the gang as Akane's friends charged for her.

She wouldn't stop there, though she had no rock she still had fists, feet, and indeed her exceptional eyes.

She didn't want this . . . but by the powers she'd make sure it never happened again . . . they'd learn. She'd pay for it in blood now and punishments later, but _they would learn_.

* * *

Hijiri Shimon blew his bangs away from his eyes in frustration as he attempted to make dinner.

He wasn't the most proficient of cooks, in fact he was almost terrible at it, so when he heard the door slam he thought nothing of leaving the stove unattended for a second to greet his daughter.

She was rather late, maybe for once she hadn't been in such a rush to get home and shut herself in her room with her books and scrolls. Maybe for once she'd walked home with a friend, stayed after school to play a game, done something to integrate herself with the rest of the children.

He was sorely mistaken though. It was obvious when he laid eyes on his daughter, she was missing a shoe and limping, her dress was torn, he could see one of her knees was badly scraped and she had bruises on her arms and face so terrible he almost didn't recognize her.

The sunglasses he'd noticed missing that morning were on her face, one of them had been broken so that the lense was gone, and this eye Hitomi had no doubt kept shut up tight until she stepped through the door of their home.

He saw in that one eye that the physical wounds were nothing compared to the pain the girl was suffering inside, the tears rolling down her cheeks weren't being shed because of the physical pain, Shimon knew his child well enough to know that.

He reached out to her but she ran away instead, "Jun!" He shouted to his wife, "She's--" He began but like the crack of a whip his wife, who'd no doubt already heard Hitomi slam the door, rushed into their home's small living room, wrapping her arms around her daughter.

"What happened?" Jun asked softly, but Hitomi shoved her away.

"I hate you! You made me this way and I hate you!" Hitomi screamed, rushing into her room and slamming the door with a final cry of, "It's all _your _fault!"

Jun glanced at Shimon, "I told you . . . I told you if I had a child it'd be just like me."

Shimon staggered, leaning against a wall, "So that's it then? She's . . . like you?"

"Both eyes." Jun nodded. "And . . . the stove is on fire, hon."

Shimon swore, but it was a relief to focus on a problem he could actually fix.

What was he going to do for his daughter?

* * *

Hitomi snuck out of her room later that night. It was well after her bedtime, but it was also a weekend and she wanted to get something to eat. As she tiptoed down the short hallway she saw a light in the living room that froze her in her tracks, she heard voices speaking softly and peeked around the corner to see who was talking.

Akane's parents, as well as the parents of the other members of her gang were there, father looked stressed and mother looked annoyed.

"It took us this long just to get one of them to talk." Akane's father said sharply, "They were either too scared, or in my daughter's case, too busy having their _jaws wired _and laying unconscious in a hospital room!"

"I'm sorry about what happened." Hitomi's father said, "From now on I'll walk my daughter home from school every day, it won't happen again."

"What about the medical bills?" Akane's father demanded.

"We're not made of money," Hitomi's mother said coldly, "Your daughter and her friends are ten years old, my girl is eight--"

"Her father's a ninja! You taught her Ninjutsu, didn't you?" One of the other men roared.

"Keep your voice down, even if you don't care about our sleeping daughter spare a thought for our sleeping neighbors! And Shimon did no such thing," Hitomi's mother hissed, "you let your children run around picking fights and when they _lose _you honestly expect the _victim's _parents to pay the doctors?"

"Half our kids are _hospitalized _because of yours, don't you feel any remorse?"

"Our daughter was attacked and had to fight back, don't _you _feel any remorse? No, you feel greed, coming here demanding _we _pay _you_ for the trouble your children caused?" Mother scoffed.

"Your husband _is _a Shinobi, and business has been good for Konoha lately . . ." One of the women pointed out.

"Get out of my house!" Jun snapped, springing from her chair, "Get yourselves gone _now_!"

"You _have _overstayed your welcome." Shimon agreed. "We'll do what we can for your families, but right now you need to leave. We can talk about this tomorrow, when we've all had a chance to cool down, and when we know how much the bills will be."

Hitomi glared at the other grownups as they left, some of them threatening to make a report to the Hokage, others claiming they'd take it was far as the Daimyo, and though she wasn't ready to apologize for what she'd said to her mother, she felt a great deal of appreciation for the way that she'd helped get all those people to go away.

"What'll we do?" Shimon sighed, "With the Chuunin Exams coming up so soon I can't take on extra missions, I have to be in Konoha to cover them."

"Don't worry about it." Jun whispered.

"I kind of have to," Shimon shook his head, "You're out of a job so the only money coming in is through me."

"It's wrong for us to have to pay, but still if the law sides with them we'll find the money . . . somehow." Jun assured her husband.

Hitomi felt sick to her stomach and suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore. She snuck back to her room where she tried and failed to sleep for a few hours.

When the sun rose in the sky she gave up on it and crept into the living room.

Her father was sitting with his head buried in his hands, Hitomi wondered if he'd gotten any sleep either. If Hitomi didn't know any better she'd almost think he was praying.

_Take this terrible daughter away from me, give me a normal one with normal eyes _was probably what he'd say if he were, but she knew he didn't pray. Few Ninja did.

She rubbed her eyes, a preemptive strike against any tears and heard her father say "Stop it, you'll make them red."

"They're always red anyway." Hitomi said.

Normally he would say that it was because she was always rubbing them, but today he just smiled weakly and said nothing.

* * *

A month later Hitomi's wounds had healed, life was normal again.

She didn't see Akane or her friends again, so they never tried to hurt her. But she was still referred to as "Freaky" and bigger, gutsier kids were starting to push her around. Her father told her that mother went away to see grandfather and beg for money to pay for "certain bills", but it didn't take a month to visit grandpa, by now Hitomi knew that Hijiri Jun had _really _just run out on her, didn't want to deal with a daughter like her. She'd left her a letter, but Hitomi would never read it. Maybe her mother would come back some day . . . but the girl didn't care.

So even without mother, life was rather normal. The chaos of her first fight was fading away, even though she knew she might have to be prepared to defend herself again someday with her father walking her to and from school every day life wasn't as dangerous.

But everything changed when the Hokage came to her house.

"I can't tell whether you're raising a gentle flower or a homicidal maniac!" The Hokage laughed, eyeing Hitomi, "She's so quiet and pretty, but when you look at the medical records . . . it's hard to believe this girl can do that."

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama it's hard to believe _you _can punch people through walls." A man with a scar over his face named Iruka said.

"True." The Fifth said brightly. She smiled warmly at Hitomi, "So which is it? Gentle blossom, or deranged killer?"

"Hokage-sama, please don't--" Shimon spoke up but The Fifth held up a hand.

"Spare me, I'm sure the other children have said worse to her. It hasn't occurred to you yet that I'm not in the business of making house calls, has it?"

"I'm aware, but--" Shimon began but the Hokage barreled on, continuing her speech as if she couldn't hear him.

"This girl is a danger to herself and others, in light of what happened to her mother--"

"Hokage-sama!" Shimon stood up, shouting, "You won't discuss that here."

Iruka whispered something to the Hokage, but Hitomi scoffed.

"I know she left. I know she couldn't deal with a child like me so she ran off. I don't care . . . she was a terrible mother anyway. Everything that's wrong with me is _her _fault."

The Hokage looked stunned, she glanced at Shimon, who's hands were shaking.

There was silence for a moment, but the Fifth regained her composure and bravado, "Nothing you do is anyone's fault but your own, live with that. Honestly, to hear you blame your parents for things you actively choose to do is repulsive. I can't believe such talk just escaped the mouth of one of my ninja."

"I'm not a ninja!" Hitomi balked. How could the Fifth Hokage make such a stupid mistake?

"Too right. Well . . . do you want to be?" Lady Tsunade asked.

The man named Iruka smiled, "Hitomi you're a talented child, and we've wanted you at the academy for some time. Your parents wanted to leave it up to you, let you decide when you were nine but we do take eight year olds as well, and . . . in light of everything that's happened we feel you really need to learn how to properly harness the . . . talents, you have."

Hitomi was shaking now, "When . . . when I'm a ninja, I'll be able to make everybody respect me, right?"

The Hokage and Iruka shared an odd glance, then "If you're a _good _ninja, you won't need to, they'll respect you all by themselves." The Hokage said. "So that's my offer for you to take or leave. Want to learn how to _really _use that brain and those muscles? Let us teach you what you've just been guessing all this time . . . what do you say?"

It was so stupid. Why did people always ask such stupid questions with obvious answers?

**To Be Continued . . .**

**OC note**: Hijiri Shimon is not an OC, he's a Chuunin examiner when Naruto takes the written exam. Because the examiners all dress the same the only way to describe him is that he is neither Izumo nor Kotetsu, the two most frequently seen examiners, and he's got really long hair framing the sides of his face.

His wife and daughter however, _are _Original Characters. His importance is more or less simply to be used as a genetic template for what Hitomi may have looked like . . . only more feminine.

The Matsuri in this story is the classmate of Konohamaru who speaks to the Third Hokage during Iruka's lesson in front of the Hokage monument, _not _the Matsuri from Suna.


	2. Getting to Know You

**Chapter One . . .**

**Getting to Know You**

"Dattebayo, they're so short! Were we that short ten years ago, Sasuke?" Uzumaki Naruto laughed, looking through the window at the classroom full of students.

"_You _were." Sasuke said evenly.

"Dattebayo!" Naruto laughed, amazed that he could ever have looked like one of those little kids.

Iruka chuckled, "Naruto . . . I gave you a very special team, since it's your first time training Genin."

"Yeah, yeah, let me at 'em. Or do you think I should wait and go in last, like Kakashi-sensei did with us? What do you think, Sasuke?"

Sasuke just walked brazenly into the room, said "Team Five," and walked out, not waiting to see whether or not the kids followed.

Was he trying to act cool, or was he just being an ass? Naruto wasn't sure some times. He really hoped at least one of the kids on team five passed whatever test Sasuke was going to subject them to, but he also hoped in doing so Sasuke would go easier on whoever it was.

"You're going to be leading team eight, comprised of Hara Masamune, Hijiri Hitomi and Yamamoto Miyuki," Iruka continued, though Naruto could barely force himself to pay attention, until he heard what Iruka told him next.

"They're all outcasts, and orphans."

Naurto raised an eyebrow at his old teacher, "What's that?"

"Hara's parents had him in their old age, his mother died in childbirth and his father passed away a year later, he hasn't got any other siblings or family members to take care of him, he's been in and out of foster homes his whole life, and like someone else I know he likes to play pranks." Iruka pointed out a boy with wild blond hair and sloppy clothes that just begged someone to notice him if only to tell him to fix his shirt. Naruto remembered being like that, wearing obnoxious orange because it caught the eye.

He still wore orange, but now it was because he liked it. His friends gave him all the love and attention he needed, even Sasuke in his own way. The villagers that still hated him could now at least keep a civilized expression on their faces when they saw him, even though he wasn't Hokage yet he'd pretty much achieved the important part of his lifelong dream, which was to be noticed and respected.

Iruka pointed out a girl passing the time with a book, she wore a rather conservative, boyish outfit, a long sleeved coat with two rows of buttons and a collar that hid her face from the nose down, matched with long pants. "Yamamoto's parents were both killed when the Sand-Sound alliance attacked us ten years ago, she was living with her uncle until last year when she was removed from his custody due to abuse."

"Abuse? Mental right?" Who the heck would hit a girl? One that had lost her parents no less. If she'd been mentally abused Naruto might have to be careful what he said around her, and he wasn't good at watching what he said.

"Let's just say it's the sort of abuse that's classified and not _our_ business." Iruka said evenly, "It's in her classified dossier, which you'll get access to if she passes your test and you become her permanent Sensei. The last member of your team is Hijiri. Her father was killed in the line of duty a few years ago, a skirmish against some Rain Country Jounin. She doesn't actually know what happened to her mother."

Naruto saw the girl dressed in blue pants with a black top that came down in the front and back like a tabard, she wore black goggles and tilted her head to the side, avoiding a spit-wad shot at her from some student behind her. "Do _we_ know?" Naruto asked, referring to the dossiers, not himself and Iruka.

"We do. It's in her classified dossier, you won't see it until--"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Naruto said, much less eager now. Not because he considered these kids not worth training but because they'd already lost so much the fact that he would probably have to fail at least one of them made him feel a little sick.

"They're all orphans, and they're all outcasts, Naruto. But they're also my three most promising students and I know that if there's anyone in this village who can help them live up to their greatest potential it's you. Not Sasuke, not Lee, not Neji or Sai, just you. Because even though your circumstances were different you know what they've been through."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah . . . I'll see what I can do, believe it."

"Go ahead then." Iruka told him.

Naruto felt a lot less sure of himself now as he walked in. Several of the children stared, he sure didn't _look _like the other Jounin sensei they'd seen, dressed in orange and black with his flack jacket "mysteriously" once again left behind at home.

He'd been really happy to have it at first, but now he didn't like to wear it outside of missions, it was heavy and it smelled funny.

Almost timidly he raised his clipboard, "Team Eight?"

He already knew who they were so he wasn't surprised when they got up and lined up, unlike Sasuke he waited for them to come to him before leading them out of the room.

Now he just had to talk to them . . . like Kakashi-sensei had done with him, just sit them down and ask them about their goals and stuff.

So he'd get to know these kids even better before he had to cruelly test them. What joy he _didn't _feel at that thought. _How did you do it, Kakashi-sensei? I'm already attached to them . . . I blame you, Iruka-sensei, telling me all that stuff._ Naruto found himself walking with his hands in his pockets until finally they got to his favorite Ramen place.

"Okay, let's take a seat right here and have something to eat."

"I don't have any money." Hara pointed out, hopefulness thick in his voice.

"I'm paying." Naruto assured them.

"Yes!" Hara cried, leaping onto a stool.

"I'm not eating that muck." Hijiri scoffed, putting her head down on the counter.

Yamamoto said nothing, just took a seat next to Hijiri and sat quietly, shaking her head when the serving lady asked her what she wanted.

So he was just buying ramen for two people . . . okay, so they were already cheaper than he'd expected. Still, he asked for some tea on their behalf.

"So," he said, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, your Sensei." _For today at least._ Naruto thought. "I want you to tell me a bit about yourselves. What you like and dislike, what your goals for the future are, your hobbies?"

"Who should go first?" Hara asked as.

"You, we'll go down the line." Naruto suggested.

"Okay . . . I'm Hara Masamune. I like joking and I don't like people who can't take one. My hobby is joking around and playing pranks, and in the future I'm going to be the Hokage."

Naruto found Hara's similarities to himself eerie, how much like this kid had he been ten years ago?

"Okay, you next." He told Hijiri.

"I'm Hijiri Hitomi, I don't like anything so my dislike is everything, my only hobby is practicing ninja arts so I can become stronger, my goal for the future is to become stronger than anybody, even the Hokage and never to need anybody." Hitomi said.

Naruto nodded slightly. "How about you?" He asked Yamamoto.

She stared at him quietly for a moment, then finally just as he was about to say something to encourage her she said "My name is Yamamoto Miyuki, and I think this is really stupid. I dislike stupid things like this, I like things that are not as stupid this. My hobby is _not_ taking part in stupid activities like this, and my goal is never have to take part in stupid activities like this. Can I go now?"

"No." Naruto laughed, "You're mine for the rest of the day."

"I'm _not _yours for _anything._" Yamamoto said darkly, and under her breath so Naruto barely heard it.

He smiled a weak, forced smile, "All right. Now that we all know each other a little better let me see . . . what can we do to raise your low spirits before we break for the day."

"How about playing a prank?" Hara asked.

"Stupid idea." Yamamoto scoffed, Naruto liked it better when she didn't speak at all, even though he knew he shouldn't think that way.

"He'd never agree to let us do something like that." Hijiri scoffed.

"Oh no?" Naruto laughed. "How little you know me, little Genin. As it so happens I am the _king _of practical joking and pranks."

"You were the king, now I am." Hara said.

"We'll just see about that." Naruto said.

"You're not seriously going to--" Yamamoto began, then folded her arms and seemed to decide further discussion wasn't worth her time.

Hitomi pursed her lips and arched her eyebrows, Naruto couldn't see her eyes but he suspected she was at least mildly interested.

"What kind of prank?" The girl asked, sweeping long black bangs away from her face.

Naruto considered for a moment. Then he said "You know . . . we need something that'll require teamwork from all four of you . . . and we'll have to be quick because I really should be giving you your orders for tomorrow and sending you on your way . . . I know!"

* * *

Tsunade's eye twitched as the four Konoha Shinobi stood before her covered in what she hoped was mud even though it didn't smell like it.

"Care to explain just _why _you decided to let loose all the horses in the Daimyo's stable?"

"It seemed like a _really _good idea at the time." Naruto told her.

"They're treated like animals with no rights!" One of his Genin shouted. Though Tsunade couldn't recognize which one it was because of all the mud. She supposed he sounded like a boy, it was probably Hara Masamune.

"They _are _animals." One of the girls, the one with goggles pointed out. That would probably be Hijiri Hitomi.

The other, whom Tsunade could recognize as Yamamoto Miyuki because she had the least mud on herself said nothing.

Tsunade massaged her forehead and said "All right, wash off and return to the barracks you three, no meals no snacks, your ninja career depends on it."

"What? No way!" The one she was pretty sure was Hara cried, "That's too harsh a punishment!"

"It's not your punishment, I haven't even _thought up _your punishment," Tsunade told him, "it's how things work. Tomorrow you will meet with your Sensei in front of the academy, he'll take you to where your first, and if you keep acting up like this, _only, _Shinobi examination will be performed. You're dismissed."

The three marched out, Tsunade tried not to think about who's job it would be to clean her floor, but whoever it was she didn't envy them.

To Naruto, whom she had not dismissed she said "And what do you think _you _were doing?"

"Like I said, it seemed like a really good--"

"Not the horses, the Genin." Tsunade said. "You're supposed to have as little contact with them as possible until you know which of them you'll be training. Remember that?"

"Yeah . . . but it's not like they had homes to get back to, all that's waiting for them was the barracks, I thought I'd let them have a little fun. Could be their last chance you know."

"Don't give me that, you've had plenty of fun since you became a Shinobi." Tsunade smirked.

"Always in the line of duty, Hokage-sama." Naruto said in an overly pious voice with a very low bow. "May I be dismissed now? I promised Sakura-chan I'd meet up with her and I don't want to do that covered in mud and horse manure, _believe _it!"

Curses, Tsunade had been afraid it was one or the other, now she knew it was am mixture of both. She waved Naruto away but as he approached the door she told him, "Don't get too attached, the odds of them all passing are slim. And now that I know you're this attached to them I'm going to have to oversee your test to make sure you don't give them any leeway. If you do they'll all fail, I can't have them training with a Sensei who cares _too _much."

"I uh . . . understand." Naruto said. "They won't catch any breaks from me, Granny-Tsunade." He muttered a "Dattebayo" and out of her office he marched.

Shizune came in, holding Ton-Ton, "L-Lady Tsunade what is this mess? Ah, Ton-Ton, no!"

"No!" Tsunade screamed as the pig leapt out of Shizune's arms and into the trail of refuse left behind by Naruto and his team, then, after a good roll, came charging for her affectionately.

"Keep her away, keep her away!" Tsunade cried, leaping out of her chair in a manner that she knew wasn't dignified as Shizune chased the pig around the office.

"She just loves you, that's all!" Shizune cried.

"Keep her away!" Tsunade said again.

This went on for seconds, both women were Shinobi after all and quick as Ton-Ton was they were quicker. Still, for Tsunade it felt like much longer.

She shook her head and sank back into her chair, starting to feel old. "Already Naruto and his Team Eight are causing me trouble . . ." She said, then she remembered the pig, "Oh, uh, Shizune, don't hold that pig too close to yourself."

"Why not?" Shizune asked, and Tsunade turned to see that she'd already hugged Ton-Ton to her chest.

"Never mind . . . just go wash up."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." Shizune said.

* * *

Hitomi couldn't sleep. She usually didn't sleep long but that night she couldn't sleep at all.

Unbenkownst to her, in the room next to hers Miyuki was awake and studying ninja scrolls looking for a clue as to what sort of challenge they'd be faced with tomorrow, and Masamune was so worked up thinking about it that he was currently running laps outside around the barracks in order to tire himself out.

She assumed instead that they didn't realize they had as much to lose as she did and so were probably sound asleep, and the thought left her feeling terribly jealous because she _wanted _to sleep too, she'd made all the preparations she could and now all that remained was to be well rested enough to face whatever she met with tomorrow.

Her entire ninja career depended on her performance tomorrow . . . what was going to happen? Why was it so important that she not eat? How would they know if she did?

She tossed and turned, rubbed her eyes redder and redder fighting off tears of panic. If she still had a real home she might talk to her father, find out what was going to happen.

She might consult her mother too, if the tramp hadn't run out on her and father and gone who knew where.

She remembered the letter her mother had left her and considered reading it, just to invigorate her and give her the drive she needed to pass whatever test she would have to take part in tomorrow.

Thinking of her mother usually got her nice and angry, reading whatever she'd left in that letter all those years ago would probably downright infuriate her, she didn't know because she'd never read it.

And she'd go on not reading it for one more night as slowly, thoughts of how much she hated her mother had kept her still in bed long enough for her body's biological need for sleep to overpower her enough that she didn't get up and open the letter.

_I hate you. You made me just like you, a freak! And if I can't be a ninja no one will ever see me for anything other than that and it'll all be _your _fault _was the last thing Hitomi thought before sleep claimed her.

**To Be Continued . . .**


	3. A Night Out

**Chapter Two**

**A Night Out . . .**

Sakura took a deep breath as she finished the last of her papers and put them in the box so cleverly labeled "finished" since the old "in" and "out" system had confused too many people.

Sakura didn't really understand why. It was a minor, nothing of a detail, but the sort that she took into consideration, that was just the way she was.

"Finished then?" Shizune asked her.

"Yeah. How about you?"

"I've got my share of Lady Tsunade's work done, but that still leaves a good chunk of my usual workload. No worries though, I'll have it done with enough time to catch some sleep . . . and come back in the morning and do it all over again." The older woman said with a sigh.

"Would you like me to stay and help you with that?"

"Wouldn't dream of asking," Shizune said, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Besides, someone's waiting for you."

Sakura smirked, it was probably Naruto. He was always showing up when her shift at the Hokage's office was over, and since she'd promised to pay for his dinner tonight she was surprised he hadn't shown up an hour in advance.

But it wasn't Naruto at all. Sakura's smirk became more of an embarrassed smile, "S-Sasuke-kun! What a surprise!"

"I just came to drop off the papers on my Genin team," Sasuke said, "I heard from one of the Chuunin downstairs that you hadn't left yet, I thought I'd see if you wanted someone to walk you home or something."

"I'm not a little girl anymore, Sasuke-kun," Sakura smiled, "I'm a Jounin now, I can walk myself--"

"Fine, forget it." Sasuke shrugged, handing Shizune some papers, "Later."

"W-wait, I uh, I mean I-" Sakura gapped, trying to figure out what to say.

Sometimes Sasuke could be so . . . sensitive. "What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What I meant was that I wasn't headed home, I don't have a curfew or anything, you know?" Sakura said.

"You want to go somewhere then?" Sasuke asked her casually.

So casually it almost sounded like he didn't care how she answered, but Sakura knew him better than that by now. She heard Shizune fail to suppress an excited squeak. Sakura almost blushed at her coworker's inability to play this as coolly as Sakura was trying to.

"Well now that you mention it, I was going to go out for some Ramen . . ."

"Ramen?" Sasuke raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Well, Naruto will be there too." Sakura admitted. "But that doesn't mean--"

"Never mind then, I wouldn't want to _intrude_ or anything. Maybe some other time, huh?" Sasuke shrugged.

_Don't be that way, you know Naruto and I aren't . . . _Sakura didn't voice the thought and she was glad because it didn't lead anywhere.

She and Naruto weren't _what _exactly? Weren't friends? That was a boldfaced lie, they were great friends.

Weren't dating then? Okay, technically true except they went on a lot of what could be _considered _dates, sometimes they called them by that name even, but they were never really serious about them.

Weren't lovers then. That worked, they hadn't gone quite that far. But how was Sasuke supposed to know that automatically? Just because he knew the two of them so well didn't mean he knew everything about them.

And how would Naruto feel if Sasuke showed up at this little not-quite-a-date? She and Naruto were supposed to talk about his new Genin team, kick around ideas for how to test them since Naruto hadn't decided yet . Sasuke could be helpful there, but Naruto probably wouldn't want Sasuke to know that he was kicking around ideas at all, would feel too competitive.

So Sakura didn't say anything to Sasuke, just let him go. To console herself she told herself that he didn't need to be so darn sensitive. _It's not like you've ever made a real move . . . or any kind of move._

Never mind that he may have made a move just now, or the other times when he might possibly have been making a move, it was easier to make herself angry at Sasuke's inactivity than it was to accept the fact that either her relationship with Naruto was keeping her from being with Sasuke, or her feelings for Sasuke were causing her to be disloyal to Naruto.

Being an adult had only made romance more complicated, she'd assumed as a kid that it'd get easier.

How silly she'd been.

"You shouldn't have let him walk off like that." Shizune sighed.

"When was your last date again?" Sakura shot back a little too sharply.

"Last night." Shizune said flatly.

"Yeah right." Sakura said, but she knew Shizune wasn't lying and she'd just been put in her place. "I've got to catch up with Naruto."

"I thought you were making that up to dodge Uchiha. Go on then." Shizune said simply.

Sakura shook her head and sighed. She left to meet up with Naruto, now significantly less enthusiastic about it.

Of course it was all Sasuke's fault. Yeah . . . Sasuke's fault.

* * *

Naruto looked at his bowl of ramen with disappointment in his eyes, "I just don't know what to do. If I don't really test them Granny won't let _any _of them pass, but if I really test them some of them might fail."

"So test them and the ones that fail will be taken care of next year." Sakura pointed out.

"No, no, no." Naruto shook his head. "Not gonna happen, it's gotta be me."

"Why?" Sakura asked simply.

Naruto had to think about that one. Because Iruka-sensei said so? No way. Iruka-sensei wasn't omnipotent.

He finally decided "Because . . . it just _has _to be. Sakura if you'd _seen _them--"

"I've seen them." Sakura said softly. "Naruto . . . there's something about these kids you need to know. Each one of them has . . . I mean . . ." Sakura trailed off.

"What?" Naruto asked, "What, they're all misfits? Well why do you think I'm so perfect for them?" Naruto laughed.

"They're murderers." Sakura said softly. "Each one of them has already taken a human life. Being a ninja is their _only _option, the other is a prison for children."

Naruto shook his head, "No way." He said.

"Hara Masamune," Sakura said, speaking as if she were reading an imaginary dossier, "committed his first murder at age seven. He joined a gang, probably because it was the only stable family he could find. He'd been moving from foster home to foster home every few months but the gang was always there, until he stabbed his gang leader to death that is. There was a dispute and the older boy tried to kill young Hara, who defended himself with a knife. This skill with self preservation got him into the academy, the Hokage wanted to give him a second chance."

Naruto stared at Sakura, "No way. He's not like that at all, he's--"

"Like you? Of course." Sakura said softly, "After the murder he became an emotional wreck, he latched onto whatever he could and that just happened to be the newest father figure in his life, Iruka-sensei. Iruka-sensei probably told him stories about a certain young ninja he used to know. Hara is aiming to emulate that ninja, whether or not he knows that _you _are that ninja is unclear."

"How do you know all this?" Naruto demanded, "Who told you?"

"I work for the Hokage herself, who do you think decides what needs to be _classified _on the classified dossiers?"

"And I bet you're going to say that Miyuki and Hitomi are chainsaw killers."

Sakura flinched, "You're calling them by their first names already."

Naruto hadn't realized that, but he felt justified, "They need friends."

"Fine." Sakura said. "Hijiri Hitomi, at age eight she murdered a ten year old girl named Akane. The girl had been bullying her and apparently Hijiri decided one day she'd had enough and initiated a fight with Akane and five other children, beating all of them viciously. Akane however, died from her injuries. Her parents, naturally were out for blood, and a month after the incident the Hokage again decided the child needed a second chance."

Naruto shook his head, "That was self defense."

"Not according to the judicial system. Self defense ends when you have your chance to run, Hijiri began the fight according to witness accounts, and she actively chose to continue the fight until she was satisfied."

Naruto shook his head. "I can't believe this . . . so what are they, the convicts Granny Tsunade thought might make good assassins someday?"

"More or less Naruto. So even if you don't train them someone else will. They pretty much belong to the Ninja arts now, if they fail, wash out, or quit at any time they're going to find themselves behind bars, answering for the crimes they committed."

"As children!" Naruto cried, "They didn't know--"

"They knew. You don't stab someone in the neck and not know what's going to happen. You don't bash someone's face in with a rock and not know what you're taking away. Only Yamamoto has any sort of legal ground to stand on."

"They're children, they don't understand it." Naruto said softly. "We didn't understand it back then."

"We were soldiers, we _are _soldiers, we killed and we kill for our country."

"We were too young." Naruto whispered.

"Well, now we're not." Sakura said. "You're a man now Naruto, it's time to act like one. Not everyone is as pure hearted as you are, accept that."

"What about Miyuki?"

"What?" Sakura coughed.

"Yamamoto Miyuki. You said she had some ground to stand on with her murder." Naruto asked. "When did she kill? Why does she need to be a Shinobi?"

"You really want to know?" Sakura asked.

"I _need _to know." Naruto said softly. "Miyuki's got the most pain in her eyes out of all of them."

"One year ago, age eleven. She crept up on and murdered her uncle." Sakura said calmly, taking a sip from her drink. "Slit his throat and then mutilated his corpse."

"So that's the abuse Iruka-sensei meant." Naruto laughed uneasily. "I assumed _he _was abusing _her_."

Sakura hesitated for a moment, then whispered "Naruto . . . Yamamoto Miyuki was sexually molested by her uncle, quite possibly for years before she finally fought back. We can't even imagine how horrible that was, but when she fought back she did so with the same sort of finality that Hara displayed against his boss, that Hijiri displayed against the bullies in the street. Naruto these kids _have _suffered pain in their lives, like you. The difference is that you never let it push you over the line, you never snapped, you never murdered."

Naruto shook his head, "Why would you tell me this?"

"I told you already," Sakura said, "These kids are tools of Konoha. Their only other option is to be imprisoned. Lady Tsunade wanted better for them because they've all got potential. Hara has a natural prowess with blades, he could probably manage to cut _you_ if you don't watch it. Hijiri can take on numbers of larger stronger enemies and come out unscratched because somehow she's always a second ahead of them, almost like she can see the punch coming before it does. Yamamoto snuck up on a Special Jounin without any sort of training, he wasn't sleeping, his guard wasn't even down, according to the one witness neither of them noticed the girl until Special Jounin Yamamoto had a bloody gash across his neck."

Naruto felt sick to his stomach because somehow he knew exactly what Sakura's point was. "So the Hokage wants me to--"

"Teach them to be more efficient killers, Naruto. They're murderers in ninja's clothing, you need to teach them to make that a _good_ quality."

"All ninja are assassins." Naruto shot back, shaking his head, "No. No, these kids . . . they're more than killers, and I'm going to show them that. That's what Iruka-sensei meant, I'm sure of it. I'll show them, and I'll show _you_, Sakura. They're not murderers, and even though they've killed you can't judge their motives, you weren't in their minds at the time. You'll never know what it's like to be hated, and you say I've never snapped but I've always had that killer instinct bubbling within me, desperate to escape and wreak havoc. I can't just turn my back on these kids and say 'oh well, next year maybe' they need to pass _this_ year and I need to make sure it happens. I'm going to be their sensei if I have to blackmail every Jounin in this city into passing up the job!"

Naruto couldn't finish his ramen, he shoved it away.

From this moment on he'd suffer every indignity he inflicted on these kids, and right now they weren't allowed to eat.

So neither would he, no matter how delicious the ramen smelled or tasted.

"I'd better go. I know how I'll test them now." Naruto said.

As he walked away he failed to hear Sakura say "Good man, Naruto. _That's _the real reason Iruka-sensei and Tsunade-sama chose you for this job. Not just so you can _relate _to them, so you can _teach _them to be more than anyone else suspected. It's what Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Yamato did with you, it's what a Sensei _does_."

**To Be Continued . . .**


	4. The Test

**Chapter Four**

**The Test**

Hitomi looked around the clearing, shoving her hands in her pockets and kicking the dirt.

"This is going to be tough," She heard Hara tell Yamamoto, "We should work together."

"Don't talk to me, ever." Yamamoto scowled.

Hitomi raised an eyebrow, wondering if the fact that Hara failed to even bother talking to her meant that Yamamoto's rudeness had defeated his team spirit, or if he just didn't like her personally.

It didn't matter, she didn't need him or anyone else. She'd trust her father's spirit to guide her through this, to twist her gaze where it needed to be just as it always had, to help her see what she needed to see.

Uzumaki appeared without warning, waving cheerfully at them, "Hello there my fellow miscreants."

"Howdy sensei!" Hara said cheerfully.

The dweeb.

Uzumaki wasn't their sensei yet, they might not even pass today, and if they didn't Uzumaki wouldn't be their sensei at all, so there.

Naruto held up a pair of silver bells, "I had to borrow these from my own sensei . . . now not all Jounin sensei train their Genin the same way, and what I'm going to do to you three to test your worthiness had never been attempted to my knowledge . . . you should feel honored."

Hitomi didn't.

Yamamoto was examining her nails as if she weren't paying attention but Hitomi's sharp eyes took note of the way the other girl stiffly kept one eye on Uzumaki Naruto and said nothing.

Hara appeared to be listening intently but he was sizing up Uzumaki, staring at the bells.

"Your goal is to capture these two bells, everyone who obtains a bell passes and gets to be trained by me. Those of you who fail will have to go back to the academy for further testing."

"Figures." Hara sighed.

"Stop whining." Hitomi soffed.

"I'm not." Hara sneered.

"Hey!" Uzumaki Naruto scolded them, "Don't talk when I'm talking. Now listen up because here's the twist . . . you're all going to start in different areas of the training ground, your job is to find me and get a bell before they're all gone, understand?"

"Some twist." Hitomi scoffed.

"Furthermore, none of you have eaten since lunch yesterday, which means that when we're finished no food will have graced your system for the past twenty four hours, which is good because if any of you cheated and ate you'd vomit it all up anyway, and fail the test. This is survival training at it's rawest because you're not surviving off the environment, you're surviving _from _me."

"We should work as a team." Hara whispered again, "Three of us together have a better chance."

"Do . . . not . . . talk . . . to . . . me . . . _ever_." Yamamoto said very slowly with mock sign language.

Hitomi said nothing. She didn't want to have to argue with them, or hear Uzumaki scold her again.

She waited patiently and Uzumaki suddenly split himself into four people, "I'll be in the center, these three will take you to your starting points. You'll be blindfolded, just hold onto their hands."

Hitomi smirked, she hadn't seen yet the blindfold that she couldn't actually see through, this would be a breeze.

She'd reach Uzumaki first and she'd get the first bell. She shut her eyes and put her goggles on her forehead, she had to remove them so she could be "properly" blindfolded but she didn't want her possible sensei to see her gross, disgusting eyes.

"One last thing," Uzumaki announced, "We're not playing soft or friendly, you'll all have to come at me as if you intend to kill me, don't worry, you don't stand a chance of actually pulling it off."

Yamamoto scoffed at that, Hara laughed nervously but Hitomi didn't see why Uzumkai had to point that out like they were idiots. None of them had ever even killed another human being before, right? So how could any of them hope to make a Jounin their first kill?

She hated it when adults told her stupid things they didn't have to tell her, it was like they thought she was stupid just because she was a kid when in fact all of her stupidity came from their refusal to actually teach her the things that she needed to know, rather than the watered down tooth fairy nonsense they felt she _should _know.

That's why she tolerated Iruka-sensei, he'd always taught them the important facts, he hadn't been overly kind or soft on them, he'd _taught_ and those who, like Hitomi, were intelligent enough to realize they were stupid, had listened and learned and therefore become less stupid.

Mostly . . . there really didn't seem to be much explanation for the likes of Uzumaki Naruto. Maybe Iruka-sensei hadn't been his teacher.

Hitomi counted her steps, noted when her direction was changed even slightly, and when the blindfold was removed shut her eyes tight until her goggles were back over them, protecting them from the world but not the world from them.

Just the way she liked it.

Unfortunately when she opened her eyes everything was . . .different. With frustration she realized she'd been so caught up in thought that she forgot to keep her eyes open during the trip. The training ground looked entirely different, alien even. She stood on an island of stone surrounded by water she was certain she hadn't crossed over before, and there were trees now, several of them blocking much of her view, engulfing the center where Uzumaki was supposed to be . . . at least she suspected it was the center.

She looked around just to make sure she hadn't had her blindfold taken away while she faced the wrong direction.

She scratched her head and glanced at the Naruto clone--for she'd decided it must be a clone if she could hold its hand, a doppelganger wouldn't have been solid--and raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged and pointed in one direction, then looked uncertain and pointed with his other finger in another direction, then smirked as if it were supposed to be funny.

_Adults. Can't live with them, can't convince them you're capable of living without them. _Hitomi thought.

She sprang for the trees, climbing as high as she could into one of them and looked around, where was her sensei?

* * *

Miyuki scoffed again when she saw the trees set out before her. "Of course, Genjutsu." She reasoned. She knew there was no seeing through the Genjutsu of a Konoha Jounin, she'd just have to play his game until he revealed himself in some way. Yes Genjutsu users always gave themselves away in some shape or form, Master Iruka used to say that.

So Yamamoto Miyuki would keep her eyes open and find out what it was that Uzumaki Naruto had left behind to reveal himself, and thereby hopefully break out of his illusion.

* * *

Hara Masamune flipped the knife he'd secretly stolen from Uzumaki's clone as they'd walked. He figured it was a cloned knife and therefore wouldn't actually kill anyone, but if he could get a killing blow on Uzumaki with it surely that'd prove he was worthy of being a Shinobi.

The sensei was wrong, he _could _kill him, but he wouldn't. Still, he'd prove that he could, and thereby pass the test with or without a bell.

* * *

Hitomi rushed quietly through the woods and then suddenly she stumbled forward.

"Sorry to trip you," A girl said. "Oh wait, I'm not sorry at all!"

Hitomi glared, and there, standing over her was Akane.

"Akane." Hitomi scowled, "I don't have time for you."

"Really? So what, you gonna kill me?" Akane asked.

"Hardly. You're not worth the effort, I taught you a lesson long ago and I'll teach you another if you don't leave me alone." Hitomi said coldly. "I kicked your butt and I beat up all your friends, I can do it again."

Akane stared at her, "You really are clueless aren't you?"

"Whatever." Hitomi scoffed, shoving her way past Akane only to discover that Akane wouldn't just let her pass.

Akane was strong, really strong.

Hitomi blinked and Akane sneered, "That's right, I'm real."

"Of course you are." Hitomi said, why should Akane not be real? Was she so stupid she thought Hitmoi's lack of fear meant she didn't know the girl was real?

"I'm going to do to you what you did to me those years ago, Hijiri. I'm going to beat you so bad you'll never recover."

"Don't make me laugh." Hitomi scowled, leaping back, "I'm a ninja now, you can't hurt me anymore!"

Akane smirked and reached behind her back, placing a forehead protector on her brow, "So'm I, brat. Now show me what you've got."

* * *

"Hey, hey, Hara." A familiar voice said.

Hara spun around, "B-boss? H-hey!" Hara gulped, "I thought you were, I mean I . . ."

"Stabbed me, killed me? Thought I was dead? Well guess what . . . I'm not."

"So I see." Hara scoffed.

"I've come back to kill you."

"I figured." Hara admitted.

"Shall we get on with it?" The older boy asked.

"No." Hara said flatly, and he turned and ran.

He wasn't scared of fighting that boy, he was scared of what he'd do to that boy.

Uzumaki-sensei would hate him if he killed a person, Uzumaki-sensei would hate him if he found out he'd killed someone while he was supposed to be taking his test.

This was fantastic news though, it meant that he hadn't really killed his boss. Somehow the older boy was still alive and kicking, he wanted revenge but that wouldn't matter, he'd never be able to hurt Hara, not now that Hara was a ninja.

He was absolved of his crime, the murder had never happened, he felt an incredible weight lift from his shoulders as he ran.

He could find Uzumaki, pass the test, then tell him what had happened, explain everything since now he knew he was innocent of murder and had nothing to hide.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going, Miyu-chan?" A man in a mask asked.

"Bugger off." Miyuki snapped.

"You're not going anywhere." The man said, removing his mask.

Miyuki stumbled when she laid eyes on him.

"Impossible." She said coldly, "You're dead. I killed you."

"I've forgiven you for that." Her uncle said easily. "But I think you're still going to have to be punished."

"No!" Miyuki screamed, throwing a kunai at him.

She knew it had to be Genjutsu, he was dead, she'd killed him, she'd slashed his throat and she'd destroyed his face before his stunned companion managed to pull her away.

But that was the face she was looking at. A gashed throat and a carved up face, empty soulless, eyeless sockets, a nose split down the middle and missing its left nostril, Miyuki would never forget her own handiwork, it had both horrified and pleased her.

He caught her kunai and tossed it right back at her, it passed so close to her head that she could hear it cutting through the wind near her ear, but she didn't feel it cut her.

"I won't let you touch me, I won't ever let you touch me again!" Miyuki roared, ripping a pair of kunai from her equipment pouches and throwing them, she also reached for a knife she carried, the knife she'd used to kill him before.

She sprang for him and he easily dodged her, she struck out again and again he dodged.

But he didn't strike her, he didn't make any attempt to inflict pain.

That wasn't like him, he usually beat her silly at the slightest thing, here she was trying to murder him a second time and he hadn't even taken a swing.

She narrowed her eyes, "You don't have any power over me anymore, do you?" She said, "You've become that weak. You're not even real, are you? You really are just an illusion. A distraction. Uzumaki means to use you to torment me, well in that case I quit. I won't serve a sensei who thinks my past is something to be joked about or used against me for the sake of a simple test."

"What's simple about this test?" Her illusionary uncle asked. "This test determines whether or not you become a Shinobi."

"I never wanted to be a Shinobi. I just wanted to live my life." Miyuki said, sitting down on the ground.

"You really want to give up?" The illusion asked her.

"You can't speak to me, you're not real." She told it, but she said so fighting back a sob and holding back tears. "You're dead, you're dead, you're dead! You'll never touch me again, I killed you and I'll kill you again if you don't go away! I quit, I don't want to be a ninja anymore so take your illusion away Uzumaki, before I kill you too!"

* * *

"You might have made a mistake with Yamamoto." Sakura said.

"No, she's doing well." Naruto said.

"No, she _really _isn't." Sakura said, "She's falling apart."

"She's pulling herself together." Naruto shot back. "They're all doing well, you'll see. You too Granny, you'll see these kids are going to pass. They're more than murderers."

"Naruto, Hijiri doesn't _know _she killed that Akane girl, your test is wasted on her. Hara seems to have decided to run for his life, and Yamamoto has just resigned and threatened your life. What are you trying to accomplish?" Sakura asked.

"I want them to face their past and defeat it." Naruto said, "They can do it. They will do it. They're more than just tools, or murderers."

"How does making them fight the skeletons in their closets make them Shinobi material?" Sakura demanded.

"Don't you see? They're _not _fighting them." Tsunade spoke up, looking at Naruto, "That's your intention isn't it? To prove that these children aren't uncontrollable killers or something like that?"

"Pretty much." Naruto nodded.

"Foolish." Sakura scoffed,

"And unnecessary. Pay closer attention, Naruto." Tsunade said. "You might think Yamamoto is doing well because she hasn't killed your shadow clone, but in fact your clone has her so terrified and ashamed that she's shutting out the rest of the world. She's not focusing on the test anymore, she's closing her eyes and waiting for you to stop tormenting her, and I for one think she was tormented _enough _before she met you."

Naruto shuddered under that verbal lashing, but it wasn't over. "You've bred false hope in Hara, see how happy he is? He probably thinks that clone is the real deal, that the murder he committed never happened, that somehow the boy was saved. What will happen when he finds out it was all a cruel joke you were playing on him?" Tsunade demanded. "Well Naruto? How would you feel? Don't you see this is not helping these kids at all, you're making things _worse_!"

Naruto shook his head, "No. They're going to pass, you don't understand yet, but you will when you see it. They're going to pass, Granny. They're all going to be Shinobi before the end of this day."

"For your sake I hope so," Sakura said, "I think you'll take their failure harder than they will."

* * *

Hitomi glared at Akane, and she said "Why?"

"What?" The older girl asked.

"Why?" Hitomi repeted.

"Why what?" Akane balked.

"Why any of this? Why do you hate me, Akane?" Hitomi asked.

"After what you did to me you dare to ask?" Akane scowled. "I exist only to destroy you now!"

"So . . . because my family was too poor for me to give you money, and because you thought my eyes were stupid you've devoted your life to hurting me?"

"My _life_? Hijiri you moron, I haven't got a life to devote to any--"

Hitomi ignored Akane. The older girl might hate Hitomi's eyes, but since she'd become a Shinobi her eyes had proven more and more useful.

They saw everything, the fastest hand seals were easy and slow to her eyes, the slightest movement was detected by her gaze, and the bell Akane wore at her waist, identical to the two Naruto-sensei had, was detected the instant Hitomi looked at Akane.

Probably the girl had one from when she passed her sensei's test, so if Hitomi took hers she could give it to Naruto.

He'd said she had to obtain a bell, he didn't say it had to be one of his.

She sprang with speed that Akane clearly hadn't expected, snatched the bell and ran.

She saw Akane disappear in a cloud of smoke, and she ran faster. She was a great runner, that fat cow would never catch up to her, ninja or no.

She had her bell, she'd passed the test.

* * *

Miyuki watched her illusionary uncle as he walked circles around her, "So you're just going to sit there?" He asked, egging her on.

She didn't answer. She wouldn't acknowledge him as anything more than a cruel joke by that prankster Uzumaki.

And then Hara slammed into the phantom, and he disappeared.

"Ogh! Sorry! Hey wait, where'd he go?" Hara demanded.

Miyuki glared at him. "And why are you running? Scared of something?"

"Have you been crying?" Hara gawked, "What's the matter?"

"Shut up!" Miyuki hissed, "Go away."

Hara frowned at her, "Is there anything I can do?"

She considered this for a moment. "Yes . . . help me find Uzumaki-sensei." She didn't add 'so I can make him pay for what he's just done' she instead said "If we work together we can take him."

"What about Hitomi?" Hara asked.

"What about her?" Miyuki scoffed.

"If we all work together we can pass, but if it's just the two of us . . ." Hara shrugged.

"There are only two bells." Miyuki said.

"I think I have a way to pass without a bell." Hara said, "I'll run the risk and you two can take the bells."

_Fine, I'd rather be on a team with another girl anyway, I don't care what happens to you, _Miyuki thought , but she _said _"That's brilliant, clever you figuring out a way to pass without the bells. Let's go then and find Hitomi, we'll be a team just like we were meant to be."

And she'd decide when the time came whether or not she'd bring her body count up to two.

Uzumaki had wronged her almost as badly as her uncle had, the difference was that her uncle was a deranged worthless piece of filth, Uzumaki probably thought he was being funny which made his intentions just as evil even if his act had not been.

But no . . . Miyuki didn't want to kill anyone, she hadn't even wanted to kill her uncle, there just hadn't been any other way. She didn't like hurting people, if it were up to her she'd heal people instead of hurting them, but she didn't want to be hurt anymore herself, and when it came down to it she had decided long ago that pain was better given to another than to herself.

Uzumaki Naruto didn't need to die, she decided, but he'd have to learn not to hurt her again.

She'd teach him that.

**To Be Continued . . .**


	5. You All Fail!

**Note:** This is a Bonus Chapter. If you've been with New Blood you know the drill, but if you are new to the series and only picked up Red Eyes for whatever reasons know that I, the writer, am a sucker for tossing out extra chapters when I've got 'em. Red Eyes has not recieved one hundred reviews, which is the mark New Blood usually needs to meet for a bonus chapter. However it has reached a review to chapter ratio of ten to one, a mark New Blood has come close to but yet to reach as well. So bonus chapter for all, with the next chapter coming on time on Sunday.

Schedule is a tricky thing. It's a buffer if you need more time to finish a chapter, and a barbed wire fence if you have two, three, or four chapters just lined up waiting to be read. These bonus chapters are **NOT** a cheap way to win extra reviews by pointing out that reviews earn rewards. Bonus chapters **ARE** instead a way for me to post ahead of schedule and surprise people with extra reading materials because at its core I want it to be read, and people clearly want to read it. So, as always: _Enjoy_!

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* * *

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**Chapter Four**

**You All . . . Fail?**

Hitomi cracked her knuckles, "So all this is just Uzumaki toying with us eh? I knew that Akane pig could never become a ninja, she fights like the dog she is."

"You just called her a pig, then a dog, make up your mind." Yamamoto scoffed.

"Mind your business." Hitomi scoffed, "I'm just talking."

"Well unless you've got something _useful _to say, _don't_." Yamamoto ordered.

"H-hey!" Hara said, "Ease up now."

"Oh let's all shut up and focus on our job. We have to stomp Uzumaki into the dirt." Yamamoto suggested.

"Okay, so I think the best thing to do is have one of us climb a tree and see if we can spot him." Hara said.

"Yeah, because we're sure to see through all these other trees, eh? Nitwit." Yamamoto scowled.

Just to spite her Hitomi said, "I can. I'll find him."

"Yeah. Right. Have fun, twit." Yamamoto rolled her eyes.

Hitomi leapt for the nearest branch and heard both her teammates laughing.

"What?" She demanded.

"Don't you know how to climb without your hands? It's a lot faster." Hara told her.

Hitomi bit her lower lip for a moment, "You know what? I'll decide what's faster, okay?" She continued her climb, amazed she was still going to go out of her way for these jerks.

No . . . not for them, for herself. She'd find out where Uzumaki was, suggest they split up and send them in the wrong direction. She'd get to Uzumaki and she'd take him down. She knew she didn't stand a chance of fighting him successfully, but if he'd meant for them to get bells he'd leave them a way to do it, and she intended to find that way.

She reached the top and peered through the trees. She was a little surprised when they proved too dense for her to see through.

She'd never had such a problem before, she certainly couldn't see _through _solid objects, but she'd assumed that since the light of the sun had no trouble getting to the floor and since the trees were spread out enough she'd be able to see.

She was wrong, she felt betrayed by her hated eyes.

_No you idiot, you're not high enough._

She swallowed hard, realizing that she needed to get to a higher altitude if she was going to spot her sensei.

There were no taller trees within worthwhile distance, so she had just the one option.

Had she really thought it through she might have come up with something better, but she wasn't going to be patient.

_Okay . . . here goes . . ._

She leapt high into the air, as high as her little body would take her, she scanned the gaps between the trees, spotting no signs of Uzumaki.

She came down hard, barely managing to grasp a branch of the tree.

"Youch, looks like that hurt." Uzumaki-sensei said.

Hitomi's eyes widened when she saw the Jounin standing just where she had been a moment ago. He reached out for her and she screamed, releasing her hold on the branch and falling towards the ground.

She slammed into several branches on the way down, slowing her fall, but whenever she tried to grab onto one her hands simply slipped away.

And then she was free of the branches and the only thing left to stop her was the ground.

She hit something softer than the ground, and it made an "Ugh!" sound.

She looked at her teammates who'd worked together to stop her fall and felt a measure of thanks she hadn't felt towards another human being in years.

She rolled off of them and pointed to the trees, "He's up there!"

"Yeah, you're welcome by the way." Hara grunted.

"Shut up, get with it!" Yamamoto hissed, drawing some kunai from her equipment pouches and tossing them up through the tree's branches.

The kunai came sailing back down at a ridiculous speed, Hitomi knew Uzumaki had caught them and thrown them back, but how had he seen them coming at him?

She peered through the branches and the leaves, her sharp eyes spotting the glimpses of orange Uzumaki wore. "Come on you coward, show us what you've got! You're not scared of some little kids are you?"

"Nope." Naruto said, appearing right in front of her.

No way he could move so fast she wouldn't see it, had he teleported or something? Her eyes never missed movement, no matter how fast it was.

She kicked for his groin but his arm was even longer than her leg and with a single finger he pressed on her forehead while his other hand grabbed her ankle.

She fell backwards and rolled back to her feet, Uzumaki was busy knocking Hara and Yamamoto down at the same time so his back was turned to Hitomi.

She leapt forward as quietly as she could and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling back sharply so that he couldn't finish Hara, though Yamamoto was already on the ground.

Uzumaki threw himself backwards as if he meant to crush her, so she let go and sprinted away only to have him grab her ankle and throw her into Hara.

"Damn it you're heavy!" Hara shouted at her after they were done rolling.

"Yeah, well she's probably the only girl who'll _ever _be on top of you, so be grateful." Yamamoto sneered, "And oh yeah? Care to help me out?"

Hara shoved Hitomi away and charged at Uzumaki after Miyuki, but Hitomi had a new idea, she stayed behind and removed her shoes.

* * *

Sakura slapped Naruto on the back of the head, "You dope, you're going too rough on them, you could have really hurt Hara and Hijiri with that stunt."

"They're fine." Naruto protested.

"Interesting that your shadow clone hasn't crumbled after this level of abuse." Tsunade pointed out.

"Hah-hah, that's because it's no ordinary shadow clone. That's a Perfect Clone, a complete copy of myself down to the slightest detail. Like splitting an ameba, my consciousness is currently in two places at once, rather than being cut off into two separate minds at once."

"What?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"Everything the clone does, it does because I think it. Everything it says, I'm actually saying, it has as much of my fighting strength as I choose to give it, but I'm back here chatting it up with you lovely ladies while it's getting all the abuse."

"Sounds like it ought to go on strike." Sakura said.

"It can't." Naruto said.

"It reminds me of the Justu the Akatsuki used." Sakura pointed out.

"I got the idea form them somewhat." Naruto nodded, "But instead of needing a host body it's just a clone of myself."

"What happens if it suffers enough damage to die, won't you lose everything you put into it?"

"No, it and all its experience return to me just like an ordinary shadow clone. But since it's a true clone of my own body if I were to somehow die I'd become part of it, just as if I were a shadow clone. In a sense I'm immortal when I use this Jutsu.

"Naruto, I would think you of all people would realize the dangers a Jutsu like this poses to someone like you." Tsuande said.

"What?" Naruto blinked.

Sakura understood immediately, "If the nine tails figures out how to control your other half and then killed you couldn't it have full control over your entire body?"

"No." Naruto said, but he didn't offer any explanation.

Sakura gave him a hard look and finally said "I know you're proud of making up a new Jutsu, but don't use this again unless it's an emergency, okay?" She said.

"You're just jealous." Naruto smirked.

"Consider it an order, Naruto." Tsunade warned.

"There's no way the fox can take control of my mind."

"The human mind isn't meant to control two bodies at once, if the nine tails seizes control of one of your halves your brain will retreat to the other because it's easier than struggling for two. Then no matter how strong you made the clone, nine tails itself can strengthen it and kill you, then with sufficient control of your body to begin with your mind is less of an obstacle, assuming your mind is anything more than experience returned to the nine tails when you die." Sakura said, "Naruto this is just the sort of Jutsu that can get you killed without there being any enemies around to do the deed, your own inner demon is your greatest enemy."

Naruto said, "I won't use the Jutsu carelessly again, no Jutsu ever _should _be used carelessly, I know that much. But you know, I do have a good deal of control over my own mind and body, I'm annoyed at your lack of faith, believe _that_."

"So long as my lack of faith keeps one of my finest Jounin alive." Tsunade said evenly.

Sakura stared at the Uzumaki fighting the kids and gasped, "It's finished!"

"That's my cue." Naruto said, disappearing.

* * *

Hitomi let Hara and Yamamoto distract Uzumaki a second time, and she in turn leapt onto his back again.

She gripped his neck tightly and again he threw himself backwards to crush her.

This time she reached out with her bare foot and grabbed the bells with her toes.

She ripped them away from his belt and rolled away from him as he hit the ground, she kicked the bells into the air and Hara and Yamamoto each caught one.

She already had the one she'd taken from Akane, a bell was a bell, and Naruto never said they had to be his bells.

She smirked wickedly at Uzumaki, "Ya like that, jerk? Picking on kids is fun until they make a fool out of you, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know, you brats haven't managed to make a fool out of me yet." Naruto said, resting his hand on Hitomi's shoulder.

She swatted his arm away, "We've each got a bell, you lose, and we win."

"Really?" Uzumaki asked. "Because the way I see it . . . you all fail."

"What?" Hara demanded.

"We have your bells!" Yamamoto screamed.

"But you didn't take them, Hijiri did. She gave them up for you two, so now she has none." Uzumaki said.

Hitomi held up her bell, "I've got one right here you blind jerk!"

"That's not one of the two bells I had at my waist now, is it?" Uzumaki said, "I remember quite clearly that those bells were given to Hara and Yamamoto moments ago."

"Fine!" Yamamoto shouted, tossing Hitomi her bell, "I don't want this anyway. I have no interest in serving under a monster like you!"

"Why?" Uzumaki demanded, "Are you scared? Are you afraid of what you could be?"

"I'm afraid I don't want to serve under someone who thinks my past is a joke!" Yamamoto screamed.

"Then you're blind." Uzumaki said. "You think today's test was a game? You think it was a joke?"

"What do you mean?" Hara asked.

"I confronted each of you today with a shadow of your past, you all reacted differently." Uzumaki reported, folding his arms. "You, Hara, rejected the reality you knew in favor of the reality you wanted, and ran from your past like a coward. No Shinobi would ever do that. You fail."

"What? You mean that before was just a . . ." Hara clenched his fists, "You stink sensei, you really stink!"

"Yeah, yeah." Uzumaki scoffed, "You, Hijiri, failed to focus on your mission and instead took the time out to fight with your old enemy, failure with a capital F."

Hitomi scoffed, "Even then I had my mind on the mission, I took the bell from her didn't I? And if she was just a clone of yours then it _was _your bell after all and I pass."

Uzumaki didn't answer her, he instead turned on Yamamoto, "And you. You too had to face down your past, and I can understand why you might have been afraid, that was entirely my _purpose_, but you retreated into yourself like a frightened child."

"I _am _a child!" Yamamoto screamed.

"No! None of you are children, you're all Shinobi, you're soldiers and you'll fight, kill, and eventually die for this village. You should have ignored that phantom and gone on with your mission, not stopped to curl yourself up in a ball and cry about how unfair life's been to you."

"Whatever, I'm not a Shinobi anymore." Yamamoto said, "Just as well for you, because if I ever learned _half _the things you know I'd slit your throat too."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow, she couldn't imagine Yamamoto slitting anyone's throat, but the way she spoke suggested she'd done it at least once.

"None of you are really Ninja material," Naruto agreed, "You're all going to have to go back to the academy for further training, and a more tolerant sensei, I can't train weaklings." Uzumaki shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Hold on a second." Hitomi said. "You've got an awfully convenient triple standard going here, _sensei_." She said the last word with such contempt and sarcasm that it was like a profanity, "I face my past and beat it while focusing on my mission, I fail because I didn't ignore it. Okay, so how about Yamamoto? She ignored it, but she fails because she didn't continue with her mission anyway. Now we come to Hara, he ignored it, continued with his mission, and fails because he didn't face his past? That's no good, you meant to fail us from the start, and what's with the bells? We got them from you didn't we?"

The bells in their hands all disappeared, "You got cloned bells, yes." Uzumaki said, "So again, you all fail. The bells were the real test, could you get them? Sure. I _let _you get them, if I really kept them from you you'd never stand a chance of so much as touching them. But you failed to tell the difference between the real thing and the fakes, a ninja's favored tool is deception."

"It still seems to me like you meant for us all to fail from the start." Hitomi said.

"We even worked together and we weren't enough to beat you." Hara added, "What do you want from us? You're a Jounin, we're barely Genin."

"You're not Genin at all, you're still cadets in spirit and skill." Uzumaki said coldly. "And of course I meant for you to fail. To be a true ninja you have to succeed where others mean for you to fail. In the field do you think the enemy will leave you a way to win? Of course not. They want to win too you know, they want you to die, they want to live. Its your job to break through their tricks and their plans and do them one better, outfox them and win like a Shinobi."

"So what do you want from us?" Hitomi demanded, refusing to go back to being an academy student.

"I want you to be better." Uzumaki said coldly, "I want you to succeed where others fail. I want you to be the best squad in this whole village, I want all of you to survive what others can't, to kill the enemies that others cant, to take the missions everyone else thinks impossible and complete them without any losses. I expect the very best from you, and I intend to see that I get it. Or else . . . I'll have to make you all suffer."

Uzumaki folded his arms, "I know you all. I know what you've done in your past, I know what's been done to you and I accept you all the same. To anyone else you might be monsters and misfits, to me you're the most promising shinobi in this village. You learned faster than most the trick of working together, and you even managed to get the bells from my clone. I showed you your past today so that you'd know it's no secret between you and me. But together we can overcome it, be something more than we are now."

"And what is it that you're going to become? Aren't you already a Jounin?" Hara scoffed.

"Kid, I'm going to become the Hokage." Naruto said. "I'd be a pretty poor Hokage if I couldn't even help you kids out. So that's how it stands. You all fail . . . but if you're willing, take an oath now that you'll never fail again, that you'll never run for the sake of fear, that you'll never kill out of rage, that you'll never ignore those who need you, swear to become true Ninja of the Village Hidden in Leaves, and I'll see to it that you have the chance to make good on that oath as fully fledged Genin under the very best sensei."

"So who's that sensei? Certainly not you." Yamamoto scoffed.

"You'd be surprised." Uzumaki smirked.

"I'll make that oath. Because becoming a Shinobi is more important to me than anything." Hara said confidently.

"I'll do it. Only because I'm going to make sure you never have the power to play such a trick on me again." Yamamoto agreed.

Everyone looked at Hitomi, "Yea or nay?" Uzumaki asked.

Why did grownups ask questions with such obvious answers?

* * *

Sakura leaned back and shook her head, "I just don't get it. He never gave them any chance at getting Kakashi-sensei's bells so how can he fail them for that?"

"It was probably his plan." Tsunade said. "His way of making sure I'd let him train all of them."

"I don't get it." Sakura said.

"Think about it. Old Naruto pulled a fast one on us, kept us here chatting away and doubting him and the whole time he was swindling us. He made them face their pasts, but because he didn't have the full story only Yamamoto responded the way he wanted, Hijiri was ignorant and Hara thought he was free of his guilt. Still just Yamamoto was enough to gather the rest and decide to work together, they united against him and in so doing managed to get the bells. The bells were fake, but it stands to reason he meant for them to capture fake bells, he never offered them the real ones and he never said the bells they had to capture had to be real. More importantly those bells were themselves shadow clones, they would have dissipated once they were severed from the real clone if they weren't, so he planned ahead for them to get those bells."

"You may be giving him too much credit, Shikamaru might think ahead like that, but Naruto wouldn't."

"No, Shikamaru would have done it in a more organized fashion, and he'd have scrounged up all the information he could get on the Genin before subjecting them to the sort of test Naruto did. This plan has Naruto's finger prints all over it, that's why it's half insane."

Sakura scoffed, "I don't buy it. Why did he make Yamamoto face her past? Doesn't he realize how traumatic that must have been for her?"

"If she can't get over it she's got no right to be a ninja." Tsunade said with a frown. "Such as it stands we can't control the sort of people that become Shinobi, missing-nin are a prime example of this. Yamamoto has all the characteristics of a brilliant Shinobi, but all the flaws of a missing-nin. But for now Naruto's set her on the right track, she's relying on her teammates instead of doing things alone."

"So what about Hara? Won't he be depressed now that he knows that he really did kill that kid?"

"Does he look depressed? Think about it, Naruto just gave him everything he wanted. He told him he knew about his past and then threw in that he didn't care, he'd train him anyway. What Hara wants is acceptance and forgiveness, Naruto gave him both. He gave that to all of them, Hijiri doesn't understand it yet, and Yamamoto won't accept it yet, but in time the lesson he taught them today will hit home."

"What would _his _forgiveness matter to these kids?" Sakura asked.

"Being forgiven at all _matters_." Tsunade said, "Even if the person who forgives you isn't the person you wronged, knowing that _anyone_ in this world cares enough about you to offer you that purest of gifts is something worth holding onto. Come to think of it Naruto is the only person I know pure enough to forgive just about anyone. Where the rest of us just pitied them and said 'how terrible' Naruto went further. With him there was no pity at least none I could see, that's why it's right that he should train them."

Sakura was quiet for a moment, then she said "I think you're drunk."

The fifth Hokage just laughed and shook her head.

Sakura smirked at Naruto and his team. Even Yamamoto Miyuki, who had the most reason to hate Naruto right now, seemed pretty happy.

"I think the problem I have is that I can't just forgive them without them earning it." Sakura said suddenly, surprised at her own words, "To me these kids _are _murderers. They took human lives, and not the lives of strangers, they took the lives of people they knew, friends or even family. They weren't soldiers at the time, and it wasn't always self defense. Yamamoto could have told a neighbor, or someone else what was happening to her, and Hijiri could have walked away before it was too late. Hara could have acted like he was going to do what he was told, then told the authorities what was going on. Not one of these kids had to commit murder, and since they weren't ninja at the time they don't even have the handy 'child soldier' excuse."

"That's why you can't train them." Tsunade said. "You'd teach them what they need to know, sure. But you wouldn't accept them the way a sensei needs to, so they'd never feel themselves growing any closer to you as a sensei."

Sakura nodded slowly, "It stings when Naruto is more mature than I am. Sometimes I feel like he's growing into a whole new person."

"It could be that he's still less mature than you, actually. Forgiveness and maturity don't _necessarily_ go hand in hand, and unconditional forgiveness is usually seen as an immature trait."

Sakura nodded and watched Naruto try to explain to his students how they'd have to walk a mile back to the village because, while he'd teleported them into the forest for their training, he hadn't really thought to prepare a quick way for them to get back. She saw him lamely try to play it off like a preplanned exercise and smiled, "Yeah, he's still the same Naruto. At least in some ways."

**To Be Continued . . .**


	6. Team Uzumaki

**Chapter Five**

**Team Uzumaki**

Hitomi heard a sound outside her door the next morning, and in something of a stupor she stumbled out of bed to answer it.

"Whazzat?" She asked, adjusting her goggles and seeing Yamamoto standing in her doorway.

"It's Yamamoto Miyuki, I found out what room you were in from following you to your room last night, after we got back to the barracks."

Hitomi yawned in response. She couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"I'll get right to the point," Yamamoto said, "I _know _you can't climb without using your hands. And since you're my teammate, and my life may one day depend on you, I am going to teach you to climb without using your hands."

"Sensei." Hitomi mumbled, and yawned again.

"We should learn as much as we can from each other and rely on him for only the important things." Yamamoto said flatly. "Besides the oaf probably can't climb trees himself."

"Time?" Hitomi yawned again.

"It is one hour before sunrise, so no one will see you falling out of the tree, you won't need to be embarrassed." Yamamoto said evenly. "It's the best time to train, no witnesses to weaknesses."

Hitomi scratched her head, "Okay I guess . . ."

"Almost a full sentence, but you trailed off there at the end. Come on, let's go." Yamamoto said.

Hitomi wondered if the other girl had tried to joke, or if she was just being a rude little being, she decided to take it as a joke and forced a laugh.

"This isn't a comedy show, shut up and come on." Yamamoto said.

Hitomi yawned, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Just focus your chakra to the soles of your feet," Yamamoto told her for the fourth time. "Keep trying." 

"How did you learn this?" Hitomi demanded.

"What do you mean?" Yamamoto scoffed, "Someone taught me just like I'm teaching you."

"Did you take to it right away?" Hitomi asked.

Yamamoto smiled, "Of course not. I don't expect you to either, that's why I say keep trying."

"So who taught you? Iruka-sensei never taught me." Hitomi grumbled.

Yamamoto was quiet for a moment, and then she said "I'm kind of from a ninja family, minor tricks like this just kind of get passed down."

"I'm from a ninja family too, and I never had to learn this." Hitomi grumbled, attempting again to climb the tree. She could run up the tree but she didn't really cling to it so gravity eventually pulled her down. it wasn't very tall but it was thick and full of branches that she could have used to climb normally. "What's the real value of this Jutsu anyway?"

"You can climb more than trees with it, you can climb walls, and stuff. It's great for hiding out too because we ninja don't make a lot of noise when we walk you'll climb trees really quietly, and climbing into a good hiding place is a key part of stealth, it's helped me more than once."

"What've you had to hide from?" Hitomi scoffed.

Yamamoto looked away, "I don't want to talk about it."

Hitomi scratched her head, "What? Why not?"

"I just don't!" Yamamoto shouted, "Climb!"

Hitomi did so, and fell back down, this time she managed to cling just a bit. "Better?" She grunted after she fell this time.

"A bit." Yamamoto said, "Wait, you cut yourself. Here," Yamamoto reached into her equipment pouch and grabbed Hitomi's arm. She cleaned it quickly, thought it had barely begun to bleed she wiped away what blood there _was _with one of her large sleeves, and spread some strange smelling cream over the cut, and wrapped a bandage around it. "Better, you won't bleed to death now at least.

"Thanks." Hitomi grunted. "Why do you carry stuff like that in your equipment pouch?"

"Well it's equipment, isn't it?" Yamamoto shrugged.

"What if you're reaching for a kunai and you throw a bandage?" Hitomi giggled.

"Unlucky me." Yamamoto shrugged again. "Now climb."

"Yes ma'am." Hitomi sighed.

**

* * *

**

Shikamaru wiped sweat from his brow, "Talk about troublesome. I know this is Tsunade-sama's idea of a joke, I just know it."

"Quit your bitching." Ino shoved him, "We don't get many missions that let the three of us work together these days."

"Yes, Chouji and I love missions without you in them." Shikamaru said.

"I think it's great to have team ten working together again, actually." Chouji shrugged.

Shikamaru smirked, _fine, side with your crush, she's right anyway. _"Being together as a group isn't so bad, and it's not what I find to be a bother. Don't tell me none of you noticed the whole _mission _we've gotten stuck with is . . . you know, troublesome grunt work."

"Oh that." Chouji chuckled, "It's no big deal."

"Exactly. It's a total joke." Shikamaru scoffed, "They could get Genin to do this and _we _could be doing something more useful with our time."

"Like seeing Temari?" Chouji whispered.

Shikamaru smiled slightly but didn't comment. Temari would only be in Konoha for another week, this mission was a two day operation, so he'd lose two precious days with Temari.

It troubled Shikamaru, they'd been involved for some time now but the actual amount of time he'd _spent _with her didn't so much as amount to a year. They spent weeks, sometimes months apart keeping in touch with writing, and their writing was something of a game. Temari would always write about the men she was seeing and hinting about sexual adventures of the most indecent sort.

Shikamaru responded with play-by-plays of games he hadn't _actually_ played against anyone. Neither of them wrote about things they _actually _did their letters were just lies about things they wouldn't really mind doing in a perfect world, they sounded realistic enough though. The fact was neither would write a serious love letter to the other, it was enough that they took the time to write _something_ on a semi-regular basis.

The kid in him wanted to invite Temari along, a romantic camp out sort of thing.

But he was a Jounin of Konohagakure, he knew he couldn't have a foreign military officer coming along on a mission, even if he and the rest of the country trusted her it was only after a fashion.

If she saw something Suna could use against Konoha she'd tell her brother, the Kazekage, and if, on the _rare _occasions when Shikamaru's duties took him to Suna to visit her, were he to see anything Konoha could use against Suna, he'd tell Tsunade.

They both knew it, they'd both admitted to it, warned the other early into their relationship.

He called it a relationship anyway. Temari insisted that they were "liaisons lazily liaising" even though he insisted they weren't. They were no longer working together on the Chuunin exams, and they weren't having an affair, so neither of the word's two applicable meanings worked out.

Well, _technically_ they weren't having an affair. Neither of them was married, and they weren't having sex with each other. On the other hand it could be argued that they werehaving an _emotional_ affair because they were emotionally involved with one another and that alone was terribly unseemly.

"You'll see her again in a couple days. Give her a chance to rest, huh? I mean she does have to _walk _back to Suna." Ino said with a lewd grin.

Shikamaru shook his head, "It's not like that at all."

"So you say, so she says," Ino chuckled, "Everyone's wondering whether or not it's true. I mean what do you guys _do _together if you're not . . . you know."

"We spend time together, crazy huh?" Shikamaru scoffed.

"Insane." Ino said.

Shikamaru tensed, "What's that?" He whispered.

They'd barely set out from Konoha and he was already sensing a strong, refined chakra coming towards his team.

He glanced at Chouji and Ino, they scrambled into hiding places while he remained in the road, bracing himself for whoever was coming. They might not be hostile, in fact the odds were that they weren't since they were alone and heading straight for Konoha.

But one couldn't take any chances.

The chakra came closer, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, who'd be coming to Konoha so quickly and unannounced?

Suddenly it was right on top of him, he looked up and something hit him, knocking him to the ground.

"And so we see that if I were your enemy, you would be dead." Temari said lightly, her knee on his chest.

"Hey, you too!" Chouji said cheerfully, standing over Temari.

"Where were you two?" Shikamaru grumbled at Ino and Chouji.

"We were shocked by the fact that you just stood there and let her do that to you. You recognized her didn't you?"

"Just barely." Shikamaru grumbled. "How is it you're coming from the way we're going instead of back to way we came?"

"Flew out, circled around you and hit you from the front so you wouldn't have any idea it was me. It was military thinking, I was testing you in a military fashion." Temari said.

"Yeah right. So what are you doing here?" Ino asked.

"Written permission to accompany you insomuch as this mission affects Suna's interests." Temari shrugged. "You're going towards the Suna border, so I have to make sure you're not encouraging drug traffic or anything."

"We won't have enough time to get to the border, we're just going a day out, observing a small village that has claimed to have bandit problems, dealing with it if necessary, and then returning, we would have been back Wednesday afternoon." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, and I'd be stuck in Konoha bored out of my mind for two or three days." Temari said with a shrug, "At least this way I can see how you work in the field."

Shikamaru shook his head, but it was Ino who answered, "Fine, but you've got to fly us all there on your fan."

"Um . . . no, I don't think that's going to happen." Temari admitted. "It wouldn't be able to hold two of us, let alone four."

"So that rules out getting there and back quickly." Chouji sighed.

"I don't mind a walk." Shikamaru grunted, "Now act like you're in the military, you know, just for a change of pace, and get moving."

The three other Jounin chuckled and Shikamaru started walking.

Having Temari along was going to be . . . difficult. Now he'd have to make sure nothing happened to her. Hopefully the bandit threat wasn't any big deal.

* * *

Hitomi gritted her teeth on the . . . well she wasn't sure what number this attempt was, she'd lost count some time ago, all she cared about was succeeding. 

She recalled how Hara and Yamamoto had laughed at her, she didn't want that to happen again. No way.

She swallowed hard and began to climb. She stayed focused on keeping the chakra in her feet clinging to the tree, and tackled everything one step at a time.

It was slow going, even if she succeeded she'd need to practice more just to increase her speed, speed was way too important to be ignored after all.

She felt herself begin to slip and stopped thinking of anything other than clinging to the tree.

And she stuck just in time. She didn't even sigh in relief, just kept focused on her task.

She was nearly to the top, she was going to do it this time.

"Hey!" Uzumaki said, appearing suddenly, "What are you doing out here, Miyuki? Oh, hey Hitomi!"

"Ahh!" Hitomi screamed as she fell from the tree, but Naruto-sensei caught her, "Oh come on!" She shouted. "Sensei!"

"What?" Naruto blinked.

"You messed me up!" Hitomi shouted.

"So what?" Yamamoto scoffed, "Work through it, even if his intention is to be obnoxious you need to be able to do this under distraction anyway."

"Really? Let's see you tackle it too, Miyuki." Naruto said.

"I never gave you leave to call me by my first name." Miyuki said coldly.

"Sorry madam Yamamoto sah!" Naruto said with a sharp and very much overdone salute, "Now with all due respect climb the tree sah! I'll be down here making a lot of noise, sah!"

"What does "sah" mean?" Hara asked.

"You can climb a tree too, Masamune." Naruto-sensei sighed.

Hitomi gulped and began to climb the tree again while Naruto-sensei formed a bunch of clones and began to sing . . . badly.

Hitomi grabbed a branch and hung down, "Hey, why don't you teach us to do _that_, sensei?" She demanded.

"You don't _know_?" Naruto blinked, "In my day we had to master doppelgangers before we became Genin."

"We know Doppelgangers, but what we mean is you fought us with those clones before and they were solid, and you can make a bunch." Hara said.

"Oh right, well finish the current training and I'll consider maybe teaching you the shadow clone Jutsu."

"Fine, whatever." Yamamoto said. "I'm finished."

"Ditto." Hara said.

"Yeah, seems Hijiri distracted _you _sensei." Yamamoto sneered.

"Good job, Hitomi!" Hara laughed.

Hitomi grumbled.

Naruto-sensei shrugged. "Guess you didn't realize you were playing their game, huh Hitomi? Well you're back to square one, get climbing."

"You stink, sensei. Don't you even have any pointers?" Hitomi asked.

"Oh sure. When I did this I used a kunai to mark how high I got each time, challenge yourself to get higher each time you do it. Also . . . don't fall." Naruto-sensei said cheerfully. "Your teammates can shout encouragement for you, go on kids and support your teammate."

Hitomi found the encouragement far more embarrassing than anything else, it was one thing when she and Yamamoto were out here alone, it was another all together to have Hara and Yamamoto calling feeble encouragement while Naruto-sensei tried to distract her.

But . . . she'd get it done. She'd show them she could do it, and they wouldn't laugh at her again.

**To Be Continued . . .**


	7. Letters Home

**Part Six**

**Letters Home?**

Shikamaru crawled on his stomach to the edge of the ridge, looking through his binoculars at the bandits' lair.

"A cave, what is with bandits and caves?" Ino whispered from somewhere nearby, though Shikamaru couldn't see her, he was too busy watching the cave.

"The air inside them is wonderfully cool, and it _is_ summer." Temari whispered.

"How do we attack, Shikamaru?" Chouji asked.

"Hold on . . ." Shikamaru whispered. "Something's not right."

"What?"

Shikamaru scoffed, "These aren't bandits."

"What do you mean?" Temari asked, "Missing-nin? Give the binoculars!"

"Get down, woman!" Shikamaru hissed as Temari reached out and tried to take the binoculars.

He stared at the bandits, "At least tell us what's going on!" Ino snapped. "What are they if they're not bandits?"

"We're not stalking some randy teenagers at a local make out spot are we? Is _that _why you're staring so intently?" Temari demanded.

"I can't say," Shikamaru said, "They look like militia."

"The townspeople raised a militia? Don't they trust us?" Chouji asked.

"No . . . these guys have uniforms, but they're not Fire Country symbols. They're--"

"What?" Temari demanded, "What do you mean uniforms?"

"They've got tabards, rain country symbol and colors. They have proper weapons . . . and I've just spotted a Shinobi, Chuunin jacket."

"So what, Rain's trying to pull something here? A border raid?" Ino demanded.

"Why would the raid this deep into Konoha territory?" Chouji asked, "We're a day away from Konoha, but they're two days from home, and since ninja travel faster than militia they must have known we'd catch them."

"I say we smash them, take out their ninja and interrogate the rest." Temari said.

"What do you think Shikamaru?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru frowned.

It was hard to say.

* * *

Tsunade massaged her forehead, "More and more reports of bandits all over the borders. This has to be funded by someone, it can't be coincidence. I've already sent out half of our force to deal with the earlier reports and now you're bringing me more." 

Sakura shrugged, "Sorry, Tsunade-sama, but . . . well we can't just ignore them."

"Of course not, but it's still troubling." Tsunade shook her head, "Someone wants to terrorize the villages all around the border, but they're keeping their distance from Konoha itself."

"Ma'am?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade waved the newest reports in the air, "I've been reading the names, and looking at the map, from what I can tell we're seeing bandit activity everywhere."

"It's probably nothing major." Sakura said.

"Have you been listening to anything I've just said?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura shook her head, "Yes, but Tsunade-sama, think: they're bandits, they're probably being hired by a large corporation, without that corporation's support the bandits have less reason to risk being slaughtered by our ninja, all we have to do is find out which corporations have been spending the most lately and freeze their assets, when we know who's hiring the bandits we send someone in to get some answers."

"Until then our border villages are getting raided."

"Yes, but these reports say that it's just been property damage so far, no fatalities." Sakura shrugged.

"Because the bandits haven't been trying to pursue fleeing citizens," Tsunade said, "I don't want to just wait for them to change their minds on the matter. Devote whatever resources you need to finding out who's behind this, and then make them hurt. I don't take the safety of the civilians of the Land of Fire lightly."

"Yes ma'am. In the meantime, if I might make a suggestion . . . reports from the first teams we sent out say that these bandits are going down smoothly, nothing out of the ordinary except for their numbers."

"And?" Tsunade asked.

"I suggest we send out our new Genin teams, give them some field experience."

Tsunade frowned. "I want a medic with each team, and no that doesn't include you. I still expect you to find out who did this."

"Y-yes ma'am." Sakura nodded.

Tsunade massaged her forehead again, "This feels like so much more than I'm seeing in these reports . . ."

* * *

Naruto laughed and held up the mission assignment, "Now this is what I'm talking about! A _real _mission, and within our first week no less!" 

"Don't get too excited," Sakura said, "It's only because everyone else has been sent out, this is really a D ranked mission, clean up some bandits near the Konoha and Rain border. Shikamaru is leading a Jounin squad in the area; call them if you get into trouble. Hinata is going with you as a medic just in case."

Naruto laughed, "Great! Hey Sasuke, where're you and your team headed?"

"_I _am going to be leading a team to the grass border where villagers reported a missing-nin leading the bandits."

"Wow, you sure that's safe?" Naruto asked.

"I think Neji, Kiba and I can handle it, yes." Sasuke said.

Naruto blinked, "What . . . uh . . . what about your Genin?"

"What Genin?" Sasuke scoffed, "Not one of them passed."

Naruto blinked, "Really? Well--"

"You guys don't have time to talk," Sakura said, "You've got to go. Sasuke, your team has been given their assignments you need to brief them and get going, Naruto your team needs to be rounded up and then you need to go too, people's lives are in danger, the sooner you leave the better."

"Hold on a second," Naruto said, "My target location is only a day out from Konoha, and Shikamaru already has a team nearby. Why don't we send a messenger bird to Shikamaru giving _him _my mission since it's just a D rank anyway, and I can go and take the Genin looking for missing-nin too?"

"This isn't a contest!" Sakura shouted, "It's a military operation. Shikamaru's team hasn't reported back yet, we don't _know _that he's even gotten our message telling him not to kill as soon as he senses you."

"Shikamaru's careful; he'd recognize me before he even began to attack." Naruto said.

"Temari is with him." Sakura admitted, "She's not as careful."

Naruto laughed, "Okay, okay, fine. We'll move out in just over an hour."

He rushed off, feeling like an excited kid.

* * *

Sakura frowned, "Be careful Sasuke-kun, Tsunade-sama says she senses trouble. She may be a bad gambler, but your mission _is_ the most dangerous." 

"I'll have good support." Sasuke said.

"Yeah . . . still." Sakura shrugged.

"It'll be fine." Sasuke said simply, and shoved his orders into his pocket, "I'll be moving out in just under an hour."

_Sooner than Naruto, eh? Didn't I tell you it wasn't a contest? No I guess you'd just tell me I'd told _Naruto _and not you. Fine. _Sakura thought, but didn't say as Sasuke left.

"Little Sakura's worried about her men," Shizune sighed, "don't. They'll be fine."

"Yeah." Sakura sighed. "But uh . . . they're _not_ my men."

"I don't see anyone else staking a claim." Shizune pointed out.

"That doesn't mean _I_ am!" Sakura cried.

"Cool it; we've got orders to hand out." Shizune said as the next group of ninja entered the room."

"Sorry," Sakura said, "I just wanted to make sure Sasuke and Naruto understood their missions, I've got a mission of my own."

"You're leaving me here alone?" Shizune demanded.

"Sorry!" Sakura said again and ran off.

"I'll get you for this!" Shizune called after her, her voice was only partially playful.

* * *

Naruto laughed as he and his team set out, "You girls look so down! Cheer up, this is your first mission, and it's a _good _one!" 

"Yeah sure." Hitomi scoffed. "Kill a bunch of brigands is all, hike for a day and a half, help some townspeople, and hike back. All told that's three days of travel for about an hour of action. Really good mission, I'm _so_ psyched."

She might have rolled her eyes, Naruto couldn't tell through the goggles. He considered asking Hinata if she could see through them but it seemed sort of pointless to ask her to do something like that just to see if his student was rolling her eyes, besides Hinata was walking along with them in utter silence looking like she might swoon at any second.

What was she, anemic or something?

"I'm up for it no matter how many days of travel are involved." Miyuki scoffed, "Who knows what these bandits are doing to the people." The girl clenched her fist, "To little girls . . ."

Naruto would have given her a comradely slap on the shoulder, but he'd learned already that Miyuki didn't like to be touched in any fashion; even shaking hands seemed difficult for her.

Masamune threw his hands into the air in exasperation, "Our first mission, come on girls, try to be a little excited, huh?"

"No." They said together.

"I'll be excited when it's over and we all come back alive." Miyuki said coldly.

"Oh come on, we've got a great medic, and I'm the best ninja in the village," Naruto said, "You're all going to be fine!"

"Yeah? Well prove it, sensei." Hitomi scoffed, "If I die I'll be so mad I won't _ever _talk to you again."

"Uh, _duh_, you'd be dead, and dead people don't talk." Masamune pointed out.

"She knows that, it was a joke," Miyuki scoffed, "A bad joke, but a joke nonetheless."

"Right, I was joking along with her, I knew that." Masamune nodded.

"Did you?" Miyuki scoffed.

"D-do they a-always get alone so well?" Hinata asked Naruto.

"Well we are still in their first week, but so far . . . yeah, they're pretty much always this close."

Hitomi folded her arms and said "I don't know if we should kill the bandits. I think beating their faces in will work better, that way they just learn a lesson."

"Kill them." Miyuki said, shoving her hands into her deep pockets. "Kill them when you have the chance and they won't ever hurt anyone again."

Masamune shrugged, "Look, I think the middle ground is the way to go. Let sensei kill enough of them that they get scared and tell all their friends about him and Konoha's ninja, _we'll _beat faces in so they have the bruises to back up their story."

"Bruise if you like," Miyuki said, "I don't play that game. We're ninja, we're soldiers, we _kill_."

"Enough." Naruto said, breaking into their conversation, "We can talk again when we make camp, for now it's time you all learned how important quiet is in the field, follow Hinata-chan's example."

Indeed Hinata was being very quiet, but it looked like it was because she was nervous. Naruto would have to keep an eye on her, he hadn't looked up her file and he didn't really talk to her about her missions all that often.

She _had _gone on missions without Shino, Kiba, or Neji hadn't she? She wasn't worried was she?

Just in case he said "Dattebayo. I'll make sure nobody gets hurt."

"N-Naruto . . ." Hinata sighed, sounding very tired.

"Broke your own rule sensei." Masamune pointed out.

"Oh like he can follow rules." Hitomi scoffed.

"You were a fool if you thought he would." Miyuki agreed.

"Oh just march!" Naruto laughed, "Quiet training applies only to Genin. Anyone ranked Chuunin or higher can endanger their lives by speaking at will."

"Yes sir!" Masamune saluted and mimed zipping his lips. Hitomi just waved a non-caring hand in the air, dismissing Naruto's words and Miyuki just scoffed and drifted to a side of the road a bit further from the rest of the group.

This could be a long trip.

* * *

Ino scowled, "They villagers say whenever they send a messenger bird out it gets shot." 

Shikamaru shook his head. This was bad.

The Hokage _needed _to be warned, the "bandits" were militia from Rain, and they seemed to have a degree of training. Their leader might even be a samurai; he carried a katana and acted with a sort of dignity the others didn't possess.

There was an entire squad of Chuunin with the group, all in all Shikamaru was fairly certain that he had sufficient force to crush the intruders, but he didn't want to do anything that might cause a war.

He wouldn't engage them unless they tried to attack the village, and he wouldn't punish them for killing birds, that wasn't in and of itself a hostile act, they could just be trying to feed themselves for the night. For all he knew these militiamen had been raised to hunt down the same bandits Shikamaru had been sent to do away with, for all he knew they'd accomplished his mission _for _him.

But all the same, if what his gut told him was true, and these were the "bandits" the villagers had sent word about then Tsunade needed to know.

He'd already spoken to the village's headman; he said that the raids always happened in the night, when it was too dark to tell if the bandits wore uniforms or not. They struck out at houses on the border of the village, farms secluded in the woods.

They'd killed everyone they found at fist but now that the people had wised up and gathered in the main town the bandits were still ransacking outlying homes even though there was no one in them. They hadn't launched a full scale attack on the town yet, but Shikamaru suspected hey would soon.

"We have to get word to the Hokage." Shikamaru said at last.

"According to the townspeople not one messenger bird they've sent has gotten through except for the first when the said there was some bandit activity." Ino said.

"Before things got bad." Temari said.

"So Lady Tsunade has no idea people are dying over here." Ino nodded.

"Exactly, and she has no idea these are uniformed militia," Chouji said. "We have to do something."

"Yeah? Like what?" Temari scoffed.

"Get a message through." Shikamaru shrugged.

"How?" Temari demanded, "And don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me."

"You can get to Konoha the fastest on your fan, " Shikamaru said, "You'll be a lot harder to kill than a carrier bird, and I know I can trust you with something this important."

"I'm not leaving!" Temari snapped, "I don't know if you've forgotten, but Wind shares a border with Rain too if they're getting aggressive it's a Suna matter too!"

"I haven't forgotten. When we _waste _these guys you can't be part of it, if Suna hasn't gotten involved yet it shouldn't be involved now. If there are any survivors who get away and tell what happened to them . . ." Shikamaru shrugged, "Ame could attack Suna too."

"And do what? They're showing more backbone than I'd ever expected from them just by striking out at Konoha like this." Temari said. "Against Konoha _and _Suna Rain Country would be noting but toast. Hot, buttery toast."

Chouji frowned and rubbed his stomach, "When's supper?" He asked.

Shikamaru frowned at Temari, "Temari, we can't let them know a Sunagakure Jounin was here."

Temari shrugged and pulled her forehead protector from her neck and shoved it into a pocket, "Hey look, I just became a mysterious figure without any village markings!"

"Aside from your clothes, all Suna style." Shikamaru scoffed.

"I can go into battle naked. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Shika-kun." Temari said with a wink.

"Or," Ino said, "We can all stay, Temari can borrow some Konoha clothes and blend in with the townspeople, we all can. When the next attack comes we catch them off guard, and the morning after we send a report back."

"But that means letting them attack again," Chouji said, "If we move now we can waste them all before it gets dark."

"Yes, and then if they weren't the bandits, or if they were sent to get rid of the bandits it becomes an international incident, Ame's aid to Konoha becomes a massacre. If we wait until they make the first move and attack we know for sure that they're the aggressors." Shikamaru said, and Ino nodded.

Shikamaru looked at Temari; he'd still rather see her go to Konoha with the message for Tsunade.

He wondered why. He knew she was capable, she was really tougher than Ino was, if anyone needed to be kept out of the thick of things it was Ino.

But then Ino was the medic, he needed her.

Temari . . . well Temari was just an extra brawler, and he didn't want to see her get hurt.

He shouldn't be thinking that way; Temari was a Jounin, had been longer than him even, she was a soldier and a good one at that.

He closed his eyes and thought for a moment; finally he nodded "Let's do it. Wipe them out tonight when they attack, send the message in the morning."

* * *

"Well?" The Rain Chuunin asked. 

"Good news and bad news," The spy said, "Good news is I completed my mission, I got the information."

"Then what's the bad news?" The Chuunin scoffed.

"You ain't going to like the information is the bad news. _Four_ ninja arrived today."

"My team and the soldiers should be enough to handle four shinobi. They're Chuunin I assume?" The Chuunin shrugged.

"Uh, I think so. Only one of them was wearing a flack jacket, the rest were casually dressed so I couldn't really tell."

"Might be Genin then," The Chuunin nodded, "Genin have lax dress standards. Maybe a Jounin captain and his Genin team then. Shouldn't be a problem. Now the information I need . . ."

"Their commander is Nara Shikamaru, his teammates' full names I did not catch but one of them was called Ino, the other Chouji. This is their second day out from Konoha, and one of them, called Temari is actually from Suna, an ambassador or something. I got a sample of Nara's handwriting for you, stole the page from the log at the inn where they're staying."

"Understood," The Chuunin said, and began forging his letter. He spoke it aloud as he wrote, just because he could. "Honored Hokage . . . It is my pleasure to report to you that I, Nara Shikamaru, have eliminated the bandit presence. There were no casualties to my team or to the villagers; the bandits were just brigands after treasure." The Chuunin tapped his chin and grinned, "We will return soon, however first I would like to escort the ambassador to the Suna border to see that she returns safely. Expect us in about one week. Wishing you all the best, your faithful servant Nara Shikamaru."

The Chuunin handed the letter to the scout, "Give it to our fastest falcon, see that it gets to Konoha just as it starts to get dark, I think it'd be fun if just as we destroy the town and these Konoha Shinobi, the Hokage sits stupidly thinking all's well."

* * *

Shizune burst through the door, "Hokage-sama, we've just received word from Shikamaru and his team." 

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that good news? You look troubled."

"Tsunade-sama . . . Shikamaru would _never _write you a letter like this, it's too formal, too respectful, and too long."

Tsunade read the letter and agreed. If Shikamaru _bothered _to send her a letter about his mission it would always be a simple "mission accomplished" or "mission failed" Ino might write something like this, but it was signed with Shikamaru's name and in Shikamaru's handwriting . . . or very close anyway, it did not quite stand up to closer examination.

Tsunade slammed her fist down on the table, "Get me every letter we've received back from our ninja teams in the fields!" She shouted at anyone and everyone in earshot, "If we've shredded them I want the strips!"

She threw herself back into her chair and slammed her fist down on the desk, "I _knew _we were dealing with something big here. Shizune, see if you can't recall the Genin squads."

"Lady Tsunade, it's dark, we can't send birds out, this one only just arrived before it got dark." Shizune frowned.

Tsunade scowled as Iruka brought her ten letters that all said pretty much the same thing as the falsified note from Shikamaru.

"Consider the eleven teams that we've received these letters from endangered or exterminated, and deal with the situation accordingly: I want Black Ops in the field to recover bodies if there are any, and proper information if its available. As soon as there's enough light send some falcons out, I want our Genin _back _before it's too late."

"Yes ma'am!" The group of clerks and attendants shouted together and scrambled to do her bidding. Shizune frowned at her.

"What do you think this means?" The younger woman asked.

"That someone's raping our border and they're good enough to keep it a secret even with more than half our ninja force in the field," Tsunade said coldly, "It means that this is an organized attack, just as I feared, and _that _could mean another Great War." Tsunade shook her head, "I won't let it come to that though, Sakura will find out who's behind this and put them down, we'll nip this in the bud,"

Tsunade said the words, but she worried. If the enemy was already in a position to silence her teams in the field . . . maybe there was someone on the home front that she trusted more than she should be. Maybe there was no way to stop a war from breaking out.

**To Be Continued . . .**


	8. Moonlight Confessions

**Note: **I should probably clarify that when it's pointed out that eleven teams have sent back suspicious reports at a time when half of Konoha's ninja force is out and about, those eleven teams are not the full half of Konoha's force, rather they're the eleven squads that have had falsified reports sent back on their behalf out of the many squads that have currently been dispatched to various corners of the globe for various missions.

**Also: **Just this once, a dedication. Sure they usually come at the beginning of the book or story, but you'll have to bare with me, this is a very significant chapter to me personally and it was written for someone very special. I _do_ think dedicating a fan fiction chapter to someone is odd, but I'm doing it anyway, if it bothers you don't read the dedication.

**Dedication:**

_For Marrissa. You can't read these words any longer, you cant read anything I write, which is a shame because everything I write is for you as much as if not more than it is for myself. I still wish I could have published a perfect book just for you._

_Too late . . ._

* * *

**Part Seven**

**Moonlight Confessions**

Hitomi stared out into the dark night. She traced patterns in the dirt.

The pattern she was tracing was nothing important, in fact she wasn't even paying attention to it. It had started as the Konoha leaf, but then she wiped that away, she didn't want to trace that, it would be careless leaving something like that behind when she left. She'd then began trying to make a convincing paw print but abandoned that too, it was a waste of time since a single print was pointless.

So she lay in her sleeping bag--it smelled terrible, but since she didn't actually own one of her own she had to use the one issued her by Konoha's supply stores--tracing designs of nothing in particular while she stared out into the darkness.

Naruto-sensei was walking around patrolling and keeping watch with one of his clones while he himself slept, it seemed like a neat trick and Hitomi imagined all the things she could do once she learned it.

For now however she was restless. She waited until Naruto-sensei's back was turned to her, then very carefully and quietly she crept away from the camp.

She found a suitable tree easily enough and she began to climb.

Speed is the key she told herself, if I cannot climb fast enough, it's a waste of time to even bother.

She didn't need to mark her progress with a kunai; she could climb the tree by now what she needed was to do it quickly.

She went to work practicing, fully aware that she would only be causing herself to lose sleep and expend chakra, but since their mission was a milk run, being watched over by two Jounin anyway she doubted it would matter, and her sights were set on the future.

* * *

Hara's eyes opened slowly, he sat up and scratched his head.

"Stop it . . . it hurts . . ." Miyuki mumbled nearby. Hara stared at her in the soft moonlight as she tossed and turned in her sleeping bag. "I hate you . . . I hate you!" She shouted in her sleep.

Hara frowned; he got up and crept over to her. It was obvious she was having a nightmare; she needed to wake up. He glanced at Naruto-sensei, fast asleep when he was supposed to be on watch . . . what a lazy ninja.

No . . . there was a shadow clone on guard, Hara remembered now. Where was that clone now? Why wasn't he waking Miyuki up and rescuing her from her bad dream?

"No . . . no . . . no . . ." the girl mumbled repeatedly as she tossed and turned, Hara reached out for her and gently shook her. "No . . . no . . . NO!" Miyuki screamed at the top of her lungs, eyes snapping open she lashed out with a kunai and nearly slit Hara's throat, he only just barely managed to throw himself back in time.

"What were you doing?" Miyuki shouted.

"I'm fine by the way," Hara grumbled.

"I didn't ask!" Yamamoto Miyuki hissed, looking around, "Why were you touching me, and where's Hitomi?"

"I was waking you up." Hara said as he too began to look around. He hadn't actually noticed Hitomi was gone . . . but she was.

"I'm going to find Hitomi. You don't ever touch me. Don't you ever, _ever _touch me." Miyuki said, getting out of her sleeping bag.

"You were having a nightmare, I was trying to wake you up is all."

"Throw water on me next time, or ask Hitomi to wake me up." Miyuki scoffed.

"So what, Hitomi can touch you?" Hara asked, trying to be clear on the rules, "Don't you know it's girls who have cooties, not boys?"

"It's got nothing to do with cooties!" Miyuki hissed.

Hara frowned. Why did he like this girl?

There was something about her that just drew him in. Somehow, the minute he'd looked at her for the first time he hadn't been able to think about anyone else. He was just a kid; he wasn't looking for a girlfriend or anything like that but just seeing Yamamoto Miyuki for the first time he'd realized that he was looking at the girl of his dreams.

Now that he was getting to know her, he'd expected those feelings to recede since she was so antisocial, so rude, so . . . well, unpleasant. But they didn't, instead he was starting to feel desperate, desperate to get her attention, to get her to like him too.

He guessed if he had to really admit it, he'd hoped to be like a hero to her for saving her from her nightmare, but now instead she acted as if it was his fault her brain had taken its nighttime surroundings and interpreted them into something spooky.

"If it's not about cooties, what's your deal?" Hara asked her.

"I don't--"

"Want to talk about it." Hara sighed. "You don't want to talk about anything."

"You wouldn't either." Miyuki hissed, "No, no, you've had it too good."

"Had it too good?" Hara scoffed, "Miyuki my life's been terrible just so you know."

"Yamamoto! You can't call me Miyuki!" She snapped.

"Why not?" Hara asked.

Miyuki clenched her fists, "Because it's not appropriate. You're not a member of my family and you're not a friend. I haven't given you permission to call me Miyuki. You don't hear me calling you Masamune do you?"

"That's fine; I'm not fond of Masamune. I like being called Hara." Hara shrugged.

Being called by his family name reminded him that at one point he had _had _a family. A real family.

"I don't care." The girl said.

Hara frowned at her, "What's your problem with me anyway? What'd I ever do to you?"

Miyuki glared at him, "Nothing! But that's as much as anyone did, nobody ever did anything to help me, they all just stood back and--you know what it doesn't matter!"

"Don't shout, we're out in the wilds, enemy ninja might hear you." Hara said.

"Good! I hope they kill me, put an end to it all." Miyuki scoffed.

"If that's how you feel why don't you end it yourself?" Hara demanded.

"Because . . . because I don't want to die yet. I want to live a while longer, because when I die I'll go to hell."

"So what?" Hara shrugged, "All ninja do."

"Liar!" Miyuki screamed, "That's not true!"

"We're liars, thieves, spies, murderers, that's what a ninja is. Luckily, none of us believe in the seven hells, or nine, or fifteen or however many there are supposed to be. None of us believe in heaven, we know that when we die it's just an eternal, dreamless sleep."

"You're wrong!" Miyuki hissed, "My . . . my parents are in heaven."

Hara frowned. He wanted to believe that his parents were also in a better place but he couldn't, he just couldn't. There was no heaven, he couldn't believe in it. Maybe there was a hell but he doubted it, there wouldn't be one without the other.

He put his hands behind his back, "So if your parents are in heaven, theoretically you just have to live a good life to see them again. Stop being such a . . ."  
"Go on and say it!" Miyuki hissed.

"Fine. Stop being a jerk all the time." Hara shrugged. There was another word he wanted to use, but he still liked this girl, and she probably wouldn't ever return the sentiment if he was too cruel to her now. "It's easier than it seems," he added "take Hitomi, she's not a jerk all the time, and neither is sensei. Act like them, and you'll be fine."

"It doesn't matter. I can't go to heaven because . . . I'm too dirty. If I could just go to heaven I'd have just killed myself back then and gone to see my parents right away."

"Back when? Back when your parents died?" Hara frowned. "Don't kill yourself. That won't get you to heaven."

"Nothing will." Miyuki scoffed. "I'm a murderer, and . . . and a whore." She spat, showing Hara, "So don't you ever, ever touch me again or I might murder you too!"

"You're not a murderer. You're not a whore." Naruto-sensei said softly. "You're a tragic case it's true, but you're still worth more than you think."

"How long have you been listening in?" Hara demanded.

"Since you slipped out of camp." Naruto-sensei said, "Did you really think I would just let you go, or that I wouldn't have placed Jutsus on all of you to wake me if you moved. Of course I couldn't fall back asleep after Hitomi snuck off, even though I've got a clone watching her."

Miyuki folded her arms, "You don't know anything about me, sensei. They must not have told you what sort of life I came from."

"They told me enough." Naruto said flatly. "Didn't you ever try to tell anyone what was happening?"

Hara was confused, "What? What was happening?"

"Hara, maybe you'd better go watch the camp . . ." Naruto said, "Leave Miyuki and me alone for a moment."

"No . . ." Miyuki scoffed, "He might as well know. Hitomi too, so you'll all know how gross I am."

"I'm listening." Hitomi whispered, Hara glanced through the trees. "I heard you screaming . . . I thought you might be in trouble, and sensei, you need to brush up on your stealth, or at least your clone does."

"It's hard to tell what you will and won't see, Hitomi your night vision is surprising." Naruto-sensei said, smiling thinly, "Besides I wanted you to feel reassured by my presence, I wasn't spying on you."

"The focus is Miyuki." Hitomi scoffed, "Why would you think you're gross? You're so . . . you're so normal. There's nothing wrong with you!" Hitomi punched a tree, "You're so beautiful and perfect!"

"Yeah, well my uncle thought so too." Miyuki scoffed. "That's why he came to me night after night, holding me down, ripping my clothes off, all the while telling me how pretty I was, what a beautiful woman I'd be, how irresistible I was!" Miyuki picked a rock up and threw it with all her might, "Assuring me over my screams that he'd teach me everything I needed to know about pleasing men and all I wanted was for someone, anyone to help me, to save me, and no one ever did! Everyone just acted like nothing was going on, everyone at school, in the neighborhood, they acted like I was a normal girl and if I even tried to say a single word against my uncle no one believed it, 'he's such a nice guy' they'd say!"

Miyuki threw another rock. "Why didn't anyone help me?" She wept, "Why didn't those super ninja spies know what was happening to me? Why . . . why didn't my parents send angels to save me? Why did I have to be defiled night after night? I tried running away and he always caught me, or else some other ninja did and brought me back home, thinking I was just a silly girl."

"Didn't you tell them when they found you?" Naruto asked.

"What was the point? If my own neighbors wouldn't believe he was even mean to me why would a stranger believe I was being raped?" Miyuki hissed.

Hara couldn't see her eyes in the dark, but the look on her face became twisted and frightening, yet somehow pitiable too.

"No," Miyuki whispered, "I had to fix the problem myself. I figured that out pretty quick." She fell to her knees. "I had a knife of his, he'd hidden his equipment but after such a long time with him I knew his habits, I knew where to find what I needed. I crept up on him . . . I was so good at that. I usually did it to hide from him, so maybe he didn't realize what I was going to do that time. But I became a murderer. For the safety of my body, I surrendered my soul . . . so when the Hokage came and asked me if I wanted to be a ninja . . . what did it matter by then? Yes I'll be your spy . . . your assassin . . . and someday while I'm out in the fields someone will finally put me out of my misery."

"You shouldn't want that." Naruto-sensei said. "You're worth a lot, and I'm not talking about the money that's gone into training you, or the money you'll probably make the village when you go on missions as a ninja . . . as a person Yamamoto Miyuki, you're worth a lot."

Miyuki scoffed at Sensei's kindness, "What do you know about it? What do you know about hating yourself so bad you want to take your own life? What do _any _of you know about that?"

Hara felt a tear at the edge of his eye, but he wouldn't give in to it. He had no right to cry. His problems were mild compared to Miyuki's.

They were _nothing _compared to Miyuki's.

Hitomi however stood forward, "I used to wake up early every day so I could stare at myself in the mirror every morning and call myself every mean name I could think of until they stopped affecting me so that when I went to school the other kids wouldn't be able to make me cry. My parents couldn't leave any sharp object lying around the house because if I got it . . ." Hitomi trailed off and punched the tree she was standing next to again, "I ran home from school every day and if I was lucky I'd only get beat up once! Any day I didn't get beat up at all felt like a birthday celebration to me, and it happened about as often a year. People _hated _me, some of them didn't even know why they should hate me, they just hated me because everyone else hated me. But I hated myself too, I knew they were right, and I knew every time I got beat up they were right to do it, they deserved to hurt me because I was a freak, I didn't belong and I didn't deserve to live."

Hitomi laughed, "I felt like I was paying a sick sort of tithing every day I went to school. Nobody noticed what was happening to you because the signs were all beneath the surface. But me? Do you think the teachers didn't notice my cut lips, my black eyes, my occasional limping? They noticed it and they either ignored it or blamed it on my parents, still I let it happen, 'it's just what I deserve' I thought. And I hated myself. I wanted to be the sort of girl that had friends, the sort of girl people liked. I tried to be funny, tell jokes but people just called me stupid. I tried to be friendly, people just laughed and turned me away like the beggar I was."

Hitomi sank to the ground, "And they kept hurting me. Every day I had school I was hurt, on days I didn't, if I were stupid enough to leave the house I got hurt. Maybe it wasn't the same kind of pain you were feeling, Miyuki . . . but it was so hard to endure, and I hated myself so much for not being the kind of girl people could like. I wanted to hurt myself all the time because of my . . . because of the things that made me different. My dad didn't know what to do with me, my mom . . . my mom walked out on me. Left me to rot when she more than anyone else should have understood what was wrong with me, how to help it."

"So?" Miyuki hissed, "You think getting scraped knees compares to what I had to endure?"

"I'm not comparing." Hitomi said. "I want you to understand . . ."

"Understand what?" Miyuki demanded. "That because your mommy ran away and left you high and dry, that somehow compares to mine being _dead_? Understand that while I had nowhere to run or hide you at least had the sanctuary of your own home on the weekends unless you _chose _to leave it?"

Hitomi looked away and did something with her eyes, there was a sob in her voice when she answered, "I want you to understand how much it meant to me when you took my hand and wrapped it up in that bandage." Hitomi sobbed. "How much it meant to have someone . . . be nice for a change."

"Girls . . ." Naruto-sensei said as if he wasn't sure whether or not to try to end the conversation.

"I know you don't want to be my friend," Hitomi said, "But you were nice that one time, and it made all the difference to me. For that, if your uncle were still alive, Miyuki . . . I'd kill him _for _you. I'd kill him so you wouldn't have to, I'd kill him because it was the right thing to do, and I can't believe you think you were in the wrong."

"Hitomi!" Naruto said, sounding surer now.

But Hitomi ignored him, standing up and adjusting her goggles, she spoke clearly now, "Don't you see, Miyuki? At some point, you _have _to stand up for yourself! You have to make it all stop!" Hitomi kicked the tree violently now, "You have to fight back and make all those _monsters _pay for hurting you all the time! For making you hate yourself when _they're _the ones that need to be hated! You have to hurt them like they hurt you! That's why they stopped hurting me, because one day I fought back and hurt them bad enough that they didn't want to hurt me anymore, bad enough that they must have told their friends to leave me alone too, bad enough that the Hokage herself came and made me a ninja!"

Hitomi screamed out in frustration and shouted "Don't you see? Fighting back makes everything better! When I fought back, I didn't get hurt anymore! When you killed your uncle the pain stopped!"

"No it didn't!" Miyuki shouted, "I still hurt every day, and every night I have nightmares that he's still alive, that he comes and he forces me again! Killing him only made the physical problem go away, mentally he's still here raping me every night, and I can't even take comfort from his death because deep down I know that I'll never see my parents because I became a murderer. If I'd just let him have my body and remained faithful to him like a wife to a husband I wouldn't have sinned!"

"Do you hear yourselves? Either of you?" Hara shouted, "You're both so wrong I want to cry not only because of what's happened to you but because of what it's done to you! Yamamoto . . . _Miyuki_, he was your _uncle_! He should have given you a safe place to live, a place where you could be yourself without any risk of being judged! He should have treated you like a daughter, not a wife, that he would even _look _at you naked is wrong, that he _touched _you, forcedhis way into your _bed_ is absolutely unforgivable! The sin was his and never yours, yet here you are saying you should have been _faithful _to him? You weren't his wife, you weren't even his girlfriend, the minute he took you into his home you became his _child_, and parents don't have sex with their children! The ones that do don't deserve the title, no matter what the circumstance is."

"That's why she was right to kill him." Hitomi said coldly.

"No she wasn't!" Hara shouted, "And you're wrong too! You're talking about hating the entire world Hitomi, hurting anyone who ever hurts you, and doing it harder, meaner, is that it?"

"Pretty much. It's the only way they ever learn."

"More like the best way to fall to their level," Hara said, "Don't you see? Those kids, they don't hate you any less now than they did when they teased you. They're afraid of you because you hurt them! You did to them what they did to you, you made them feel small and afraid!"

"I know!" Hitomi scoffed, "That's my intention! To hurt them like they hurt me! I'll never stop hating them, not ever you hear me?"

"But you should understand more than anyone why _no one _deserves to feel that way." Hara told her. "You should know better because you've lived through being hated. Hitomi I'll level with you . . . I might have been one of the kids who teased you, I teased a lot of kids when I was with . . . this gang I was with, and I did it because my so-called friends were doing it. But . . . I never thought of what it did to girls like you. I never thought of what I was doing."

Hitomi folded her arms, "I remember every face, you weren't one of them. Even if you were we're teammates now, so I have to forgive you."

"Forget those faces Hitomi." Hara said. "Remembering them won't bring you any gain. Don't give in to hatred, those slime balls _were _wrong to hurt you, and they were wrong to mock you. You were wrong to seek the same for them though, revenge doesn't do anything but breed more revenge, someday your actions will catch up to you!"

"Like you know." Hitomi scowled, "You have no idea what I went through!"

"It's true I don't, and I can't heal you." Hara said sadly, "But . . . I know all about hurting others because they hurt you, and it's not okay, Hitomi. What Miyuki did was wrong because there were other avenues she could have pursued, she had teachers, friends, complete strangers even."

"It's not something you can just strike up a conversation about!" Miyuki hissed, "I don't even know why I talked about it now, I haven't spoken of it before!"

"And you don't think that was the problem?" Hara asked. "You should have told someone, anyone! Even if we were strangers back then if you'd told me I'd have gotten you help, any adult would have done really, and if they didn't believe you find another and another."

"I . . . I" Miyuki looked away, "I didn't want anyone to know . . . but I also wanted them to save me . . . I did things to help them guess, but I couldn't just say it out loud . . . how could I?"

Hitomi looked away, "I told my parents what was happening to me and they couldn't stop it. My mom ran away from it even. What could I have done but fight back?"

"Did you ever talk to them? Tell them why you were the way you were?"

"How could I when I don't even know what I am or why?" Hitomi scoffed. "Other than "freak" I've never heard a word to describe me."

"What ever your physical differences in the past you must have grown out of them by now because I just don't see it." Hara said, "You're a normal looking as Miyuki, but even if they still existed it doesn't matter because it's what's on the inside that counts."

"No one can see what's on the inside." Hitomi said. "I had to give them reason to stop hurting the outside, you just don't understand."

"When I was with the gang I did whatever I was told and I didn't care what that entailed. Robbery, property damage, beating people up, it was all-good because I thought it was causing other people to be my friends. But that wasn't real friendship, I figured that out. What it took to get out I'd do anything to take back, but I can't. But the past is the past and all I can do is keep moving forward. I don't believe in heaven or hell, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to live a good life, not so I can go to heaven but so that I can be happy with the person I am."

Hara stood up straight, "You girls need to become happy with who you are too. Be the sort of person you would respect. When you respect yourself nobody else's opinions will matter. I'm doing my best to be the sort of guy I can respect . . ."

Miyuki looked at the ground and sighed. She stood up and nodded slowly, "Your little pep talk won't chance my view of the world. I still do believe in a heaven for my parents and a hell for me. But . . . I will try to live my life in a way that won't make them ashamed. I'll earn my own respect somehow . . . I'll be the perfect ninja, loyal and professional."

Hitomi folded her arms, she looked away, "I . . . I still don't understand why defending myself was wrong. And my dad was so happy when I became a ninja I think the only thing I can do to make him proud is to continue being a ninja. I'm at least going to be a good ninja . . . I still don't care about the village as a whole, but I know there are some people in it worth protecting with my life . . . until something better comes along, I guess I'll just round out your team."

Hara smiled, Naruto-sensei shook his head slowly, "Well kids . . . looks like there isn't much I can add to this. But I will say that I understand you more than you think, and I'm proud that you all decided to try to be good people. That really is a major decision to make, a lot of the time someone with as much pain as any one of you kids will do something, knowing that its wrong but doing it anyway. They blame their pasts, saying it gives them the right to act up, but that's just not true. Each of us has had a rough past but that doesn't mean we can act however we want. Speaking of which, lets get back to camp, huh? It's rude to just leave Hinata-chan out there, the shouting probably woke her up and she's probably freaking out with all of us missing."

Hara nodded and smiled. They went back to camp.

* * *

Hitomi put her hands in her pockets. Hara, Miyuki, they just didn't understand. Fighting back was what made Hitomi who she was today, if she hadn't done it she'd never have become a ninja. She'd be a homeless orphan right now, or maybe taken in by someone like Miyuki's uncle, forced every night to do the sort of things Miyuki had had to do.

No one could ever tell her fighting back had been wrong, or that teaching Akane and her crew a lesson hadn't been the right thing to do because she knew it was.

Even if it made her mother run away.

Even if it made her father sad.

If she hadn't done it she wouldn't be anything at all.

Hinata-sensei was kneeling next to a small fire, she smiled up at them when they approached, Hitomi found her eyes so . . . odd.

Odd, but beautiful. She wanted eyes like that . . . eyes that made everyone respect her just because of their beauty and power. Not like her ugly, worthless eyes.

She sat next to Hinata-sensei, who said "I-I heard all the shouting, but I decided to w-wait for you here, N-Naruto-kun. I didn't feel I sh-should be involving myself in your t-team's affairs."

"That's okay Hinata-chan, we handled things pretty well." Naruto-sensei said.

"We? Who's we?" Hara smirked.

"Hara-san did most of the work." Hitomi agreed, "You barely said anything to us sensei."

Naruto-sensei smiled at her. She knew why he didn't say anything, he didn't have to tell her.

She'd watched him, even in the dark she could see that the whole time, every word they said he'd been fighting back tears.

_Don't worry sensei. I know you wanted to seem strong, and not let us know how ashamed of us you were. _Hitomi thought sadly, _I won't tell the others how we disgust you, how you hate us . . . as long as you don't leave us._

_Don't go like my mother did, don't abandon me . . . don't abandon us._

**To Be Continued . . .**

* * *

**Note: **This chapter might be what caused me to decide not to post the story originally. It felt like a message being delivered to the wrong audience. People read fan fiction looking for a brief, but pleasant distraction, an entertaining experience that they hope won't be too mediocre. I don't know of many or any readers that come just biting their nails hoping to read a chapter like this.

But this chapter is part of the story. If a few people feel I'm taking this more seriously than it is, I don't care because the issues these kids deal with are real to me and many others. This chapter, this story won't change the world, but that was never its intention. I don't consider myself an online prophet, I'm not super delusional.

If I had to give a reason for the existence of this story and this chapter I think all I could come up with is to say that it's for girls and boys alike who've lived lives that they should never have had to live. For the people who believe that there mustn't be good in the world because nothing good ever happens to them. For people who listen to the trash others speak until they believe it, and think that they're worthless. For people who are so ashamed of themselves that they long for death but fear an even worse afterlife.

The pain won't get better with time. It hasn't for me anyway. Time causes wounds to fester more often than it heals them.

But it can get better when you set out and decide _you_ want to make it better. Don't wait for any person to do it for you, and don't smile false smiles just to get by. Make the change yourself and accept help if it comes to you. Don't go on a shooting spree, don't hurt yourself, don't lash out at others, just take control of your world and find something that makes it worthwhile.

**Do the right thing and be the sort of person that _you _can be proud of. **Others will come around in time. It may not be easy, but stick with it and things _can_ get better.


	9. Satsujin

**Part Eight**

**Satsujin**

Shikamaru watched Temari run her hands through her long golden hair, which she wore down tonight in order to mask her identity . . . as odd as that sounded.

He reached out and brushed her long bangs away from her face and leaned forward, kissing her gently on the lips.

She leaned forward, kissing back far more aggressively. As they parted he whispered "You're supposed to act like a giddy school girl."

"Is that what that weak, nothing of a kiss was about?" Temari scoffed, "Even if we are just acting, when you kiss me you need to do it right."

Shikamaru smirked. Standing out in the moonlight waiting for the attackers disguised as a young couple breaking curfew for a chance to make out . . . it had been Ino's idea, but Temari supported it wholeheartedly.

Shikamaru supported it too . . . not that he'd admit it out loud.

Nonetheless it made them seem far less threatening and allowed Shikamaru to focus on sensing incoming chakra while appearing to be doing nothing more than focusing on his girlfriend's lips.

In fact Temari was there as something of a body guard, just in case Shikamaru detected the enemy ninja too late, or if the militia caught him off guard.

Normally that would be unlikely, or even impossible, but since he was focusing on sensing ninja . . . and kissing Temari . . .

So Temari's job was to keep an eye out for conscripts whose chakra would be unrefined while Shikamaru sensed for Shinobi, they would then radio Chouji and Ino, who would help them clear out the enemy before they reached the masses huddled together in the town hall.

Chouji and Ino were of course with the townspeople in case the "bandits" bypassed Shikamaru and Temari.

"I really like this part of the mission." Temari told him, kissing his cheek, he just hoped she kept the fact that it _was _a mission in mind and kept her eyes and ears open.

Matsuri cracked her knuckles and yawned as she got into a comfortable position in the tree hanging over the wrecked house.

Konohamaru didn't blame her for wanting to get comfortable; night watch was a long, boring business.

"Try to stay awake." He called up the tree.

"Mm." Was Matsuri's only reply.

Their squad had come out to investigate a disturbance, and the result was that they'd found the entire town they'd come to protect burned to the ground.

There was little or no sign of the people, that didn't mean they were all dead and it didn't mean they were all alive.

The Chuunin Konohamaru, Matsuri, Futaba, and Udon had decided to bunker down in an abandoned house for the night then Futaba would return to Konoha with news of the situation while Konohamaru led the rest of the squad in an attempt to track down the bandits.

They didn't have any messenger birds with them, so this was the best they could manage.

"If you see _anything_ let us know, if it's a villager, if it's a bandit, wake us up." Konohamaru said.

"Or you know, you could just . . . sleep with one eye open." Matsuri called down.

"Don't make me come up there!" Konohamaru laughed.

"I'd tell Moegi of your unfaithfulness!" Matsuri shouted back.

"You'd _what_?" Konohamaru scoffed. "Unfaithfulness? Sounds like you think I'm going up there to date you!"

"What happens in the treetops stays in the treetops!" Matsuri laughed.

"Hey, I hate to interrupt you two while you're pretending to flirt for whatever reason two people who aren't interested in one another might come up with," Futaba said, appearing behind Konohamaru, an irritated look on her face, "But uh . . . well the thing is--"

"You want us to flirt with you too?" Matsuri asked.

"No!" Futaba shouted, "Gonta's got a scent, it could be the surviving townspeople, he's really interested in it . . . shouldn't we investigate that?"

"I just got into the tree." Matsuri complained.

Konohamaru folded his arms, "Matsuri stay in the tree, keep in contact with us using your headset, Futaba and I will investigate, you and Udon will stay here and we'll come back quick.

Matsuri shouted, "You can't see it, but I just nodded!"

"And quit yelling, you're going to get yourself killed." Konohamaru called up the tree. Of course he'd been shouting too.

"Okee-dokee." Matsuri shouted down very loudly.

Shikamaru smirked, "We have company."

"Ino . . ." Temari whispered into her microphone, "We have contact."

"Four ninja." Shikamaru whispered.

"Four ninja and I hear a lot of militia. Seems like the whole force."

"Chouji is on his way," Ino reported, "I'm going to remain here in case you're wrong, or in case another force shows up."

Shikamaru nodded, that was fine. Ino was a competent combatant, she wouldn't be a Jounin if she weren't, but she was far more valuable as a medic and so it wasn't a good idea to risk her.

"Here they come." Shikamaru whispered.

Temari suddenly shoved him away and slapped him hard across the face, "How dare you!" She screamed, "Why, I agreed to come out here with you but I would never do _that_! My mother would disown me if I gave myself away before marriage."

This outburst wasn't planned, but Shikamaru rolled with it anyway, allowing Temari to swat him to the floor he came up with kunai knives in hand.

The enemy militia surged forward, spears at the ready confirming to Shikamaru their hostility.

He threw his kunai and then reached out with his shadows for the Shinobi.

Temari sprang into the throng of bandits with a pair of knives and cut them down left and right, this would be over quickly.

Quicker still if Shikamaru could catch all of the enemy ninja with his shadow.

Chouji barreled into the fray, wisely choosing not to use his human boulder technique, since of course it was dark and only the moonlight and the sound of the screams told him where his allies were.

Shikamaru shook his head, "Even though it was more than we expected it's still grunt work . . . what a bore."

"I'll show you a bore!" An enemy ninja shouted, appearing right in front of Shikamaru, which made capturing him with his shadow all the easier.

"Mission accomplished, you really did show yourself to be a real bore. Good job I guess." Shikamaru said, holding the ninja until Temari could finish him off.

It didn't take long before the surviving militia and the other three Chuunin decided they might want to withdraw, when Chouji sprang up to stand about thirty feet tall the decision was made and the enemy broke and ran.

Shikamaru wasn't in the mood for slaughter, but he did want some answers. "Take one of them Chouji!" He shouted.

His gigantic friend heard him and reached out with amazing speed for a thirty foot tall ninja and grabbed one militiaman in each hand.

He shrank back down as Shikamaru took control of the prisoners with his shadow, "Ino?" Temari asked into her radio, "How're things on your end?"

"Pretty good, nothing's happened but we heard the ruckus you just caused."

Shikamaru spoke into his radio, "We're returning with two prisoners. They know we're Jounin now, I don't think they'll try to attack again tonight."

Satsujin scratched his stomach lightly and glanced at the returning group of soldiers. "Back early . . . this ain't all of you, where's the rest?"

"Dead." One of the Chuunin scowled, "You should have been with us."

"Whipped by some Genin and their sensei? Must have been a real brawler." The teenage boy sat up from his laying position on the cave floor.

"Near as we can tell they were all Jounin." The Chuunin hissed, "They treated us like children."

"Really?" Satsujin raised an eyebrow. "Well that's too bad. Hey, I tell you what though; let's get some sleep, yeah?"

"What? What about the Jounin?"

"I'll think of what to do in the morning." The boy said, curling up. "They won't come after us tonight; they'll be too busy interrogating whoever you left behind."

The soldiers and the returning ninja all lay down in the cave, Satsujin waited, watching them in the dark.

Fear was the predominant facial expression and several of them failed to sleep.

How interesting, the young Jounin decided. Tomorrow he'd set out and find some ninja . . .

And if they were too dangerous he'd just withdraw, like his mission orders dictated.

But in the far more likely situation that they were a bunch of pansies that he could defeat, like everyone else he'd ever faced, he'd kill them.

Shikamaru watched the Ame survivor very carefully, Ino and Chouji were with the rest of the townspeople, Temari, being the most ruthless of the bunch had been the one he'd chosen to perform the interrogation while he watched and listened to what the man had to say.

But as it turned out ruthlessness hadn't been necessary, the instant the man saw Temari in the light he spilled everything out of the fear that her brother, the Kazekage might be nearby.

Shikamaru listened, and watched for any sign that he was lying. Temari watched him in turn and if he nodded slightly, indicating that he doubted a certain piece of information she pretended to get frustrated with the man and would proclaim that she'd leave the interrogation to Gaara.

What they'd gathered so far was that Rain was indeed raiding, so far as the man knew this was the only raiding party. They had not taken any of the townspeople prisoner, though they had allowed some of the children to escape out of compassion--Shikamaru had nodded to Temari about this because he doubted it, the villagers hadn't said anything about children escaping--and as it turned out there was a squad of Chuunin and a Jounin with them, the soldier suspected that if the children weren't surviving the attacks the ninja were responsible.

Their number was around fifty, led by a trio of Samurai instead of just the one that Shikamaru had seen.

"I don't know why we were sent here." The soldier said. "The Samurai told us to follow them, gave us weapons, uniforms."

"Whose idea was it?" Temari demanded, "The Daimyo's or are the Samurai acting independently?"

"I . . . I don't know." The soldier said evasively.

Shikamaru guessed it would have been the Samurai acting independently, but then they'd have had to hire the ninja and Samurai had a tendency to believe that they didn't need ninja.

So it could very well have been the Daimyo, a raid like this wouldn't be enough to go to war over, and it would allow the Daimyo to feel like he had real guts, which would make him look good in front of his people.

He nodded to Temari and she grabbed the soldier by the neck, "You'd better tell me the truth, because I've had it up to here with your lies! My brother won't like it either, so if you don't tell me everything I'm going to have to leave you to him, and he might just splatter you!"

"No please!" The soldier wailed. "I really don't know whether or not the Samurai decided to act alone or if it was the Daimyo! I assumed it was the Daimyo, but how can I be sure?"

"So basically what your saying is that either some Samurai decided to go relive the glory days of war before Shinobi, or your Daimyo wanted to burn down a little village? For what, because it makes him fell tough?"

"I don't know!" The soldier pleaded.

Temari glanced at Shikamaru; he said "I think we're through here. He doesn't know anything more."

"What then?" Temari asked. "Do we let him go?"

The soldier gave Shikamaru a hopeful, pleading look.

Shikamaru shook his head, "He's going to have to go back to Konoha and be interrogated there . . . unless . . ."

"Unless what?" Temari asked.

"Unless we managed to get a prisoner who knew more, then this guy would be useless to us and he could go free." Shikamaru said, eyeing the soldier, "I mean, if we could somehow lay a trap and capture one of the Samurai, or one of the ninja we wouldn't need this prisoner at all."

Temari folded her arms, "Hmm . . . if only someone could help us stage such a capture, someone who might know when and where we should strike . . ."

The man seemed to realize what they were offering him and what the price was, he nodded slowly and said "Y-yes, I mean I can help you! I know where the base is."

"So do we." Shikamaru said.

"I know when the group leaves to attack!" The soldier cried.

Shikamaru put his hands on his hips, "Better than giving us single snippets of information, tell us _everything _that might help us capture one or all of the Samurai so that we don't need to drag you in to Konoha, or Suna, and then when the Samurai are dead the army will be able to abandon this raid and go home."

Shikamaru didn't mention that with the Samurai dead or captured the ninja's reaction would reveal whether or not the Samurai were their clients, or if it was the Daimyo who arranged this.

If the ninja kept up the raids or tried to assassinate the Samurai then obviously the Daimyo had given the order. If they simply withdrew then they had just been hired by the Samurai.

Shikamaru tilted his head towards the door, "Take a break Temari and let him think of what to tell us."

"You coming?" Temari asked him when she reached the door and saw that he wasn't following.

Shikamaru considered for a moment, leaving the prisoner under someone else's care and resting himself. Chouji and Ino were already probably asleep; the ninja would need all of their strength in the morning when they attacked the bandit base.

But he wasn't so sure he wanted the townspeople guarding their only prisoner.

"I'll stay here, you go get some rest." Shikamaru whispered.

"The townspeople can guard him, and they won't hurt him if they know he might give us the information we need to take out the Samurai," Temari whispered back. "You and I should unwind."

Shikamaru folded his arms. _Is she tempting me or toying with me? _He wondered.

Temari smiled seductively, "Come on, this is still supposed to be our time together, lets not spend it on separate watches."

Shikamaru sighed and nodded, "All right then."

Temari grinned viciously, then turned to the prisoner and spoke loudly enough that he could hear her, "When you're ready to tell us _everything_, let one of your guards know, they'll come get us. Just hope they remember to get us, not Gaara."

"Y-yes . . ." the soldier said.

When they were out of the room Temari smirked, "Do we even need to question the other prisoner?"

"Yeah, to verify if nothing else." Shikamaru sighed.

"Blast. I was hoping we could turn in early." Temari said, "A lady needs her beauty sleep."

"Yeah, no kidding." Shikamaru taunted.

Temari turned around to shout some no doubt clever and derogative retort but Shikamaru shut her up with a kiss.

When their lips parted Temari just said "Now _that's _the way you ought to be kissing me."

"To shut you up? I agree." Shikamaru said, heading for the other prisoner's room.

"Th-that's not what I meant! Hey! That's not what I meant, Shikamaru!" Temari said.

_Oh no, _Shikamaru thought, _now she's talking even more so I'll shut her up again. _He shook his head and smiled slightly, "Enough, act professional now. We've got work to do . . . you troublesome woman."

Temari smirked, "You know you're going to owe me big for all this interrogating."

"You wanted to come along. You're going to have to work if you want to be included." Shikamaru said dismissively.

"Oh we'll just see." Temari threatened, then kicked the door open, "All right prisoner, Gaara-kun is in an incredibly bad mood so you'd better just tell me what I want to know, maybe it'll cheer him up and he won't kill you!"

It did not matter at all that neither prisoner had _seen_ the Kazekage, they still showed great fear at the mention of his name.

Impressive.

* * *

Satsujin woke up and stretched. He jumped up and cracked his knuckles, "All right, time to kill us some Konoha Shinobi."

"One problem, sir." One of the Chuunin said.

"Hmm?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

The Chuunin tossed him a small rolled piece of paper, "From the second team," The Chuunin said, "Letter for our enemies. Another Konoha team is moving in towards group four, it's a pair of Jounin and a Genin squad. If they link up with the group in the village we won't stand a chance."

Satsujin yawned, "So there's more Konoha ninja. Big deal. We pull out and go home."

"What? That's not the mission." The Chuunin said.

"The mission is to not get caught, we've probably already been exposed, I'm sure _someone _survived from the group you left behind." Satsujin shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, I like a good fight as much as anyone, but I'm not out to get killed for this nothing of a mission."

"If that's how you feel why didn't you go with us for the attack?" The Chuunin demanded.

Satsujin shrugged, "I'm not interested in killing weaklings. If I'd known the whole ninja squad was made up of Jounin you can bet I'd have been there. Nevertheless I'm not about to get this entire platoon killed because I'm stupid enough to think I've got a chance against a whole Jounin squad."

"But we have to silence them!" The Chuunin shouted.

"No, we don't. It doesn't matter." Satsujin said flatly.

"I beg to differ." A new voice said, Satsujin spun around to see a man standing at the mouth of the cave.

There were so many reasons and ways that Satsujin should have sensed him, the fact that he hadn't left him mildly afraid. "Who're you?" Satsujin demanded.

"The Jounin team outmatches you, it's true, but the Genin squad should be attacked." The hooded man said.

"That so." Satsujin scoffed.

"I, your employer, command it." The hooded man said simply.

Satsujin scoffed, "You're straight out of luck buddy, I'm calling the shots here."

"You will move the base, you will request that the second team abandons their post and rendezvous with you at the new location, that will give you a seven Chuunin and yourself, enough to overpower the Konoha menace."

"Possibly, the cost might be more of us than them though." Satsujin said.

"Battalion Eight has completed their mission, I've already ordered them to your position. Hold out for one day and you will be reinforced. Go back, destroy the town, kill everyone, kill the ninja." The hooded man ordered.

Satsujin scoffed and waved his hand, "Fine then, I don't care. We're staying here men, we're probably going to be discovered and killed. Move the base to this location," Satsujin pointed to another cave location on the map, "Near enough that we can move without attracting too much attention, far enough that they won't find us. I'm going to investigate the new Shinobi squad."

"Alone?" The Chuunin asked.

"Heck no!" The teenager laughed, he glared at the man who'd so easily snuck up on him, "You, your stealth skills will help me get close and observe them."

"I am the client, you do not order the client about." The hooded man said.

"_I _do actually," Satsujin said, "move the legs old man, lets go."

"You have no idea who I am . . ." The hooded man marveled, sounding more amused than offended.

"Or I don't care," Satsujin lied, not wanting to back down, actually he wanted to observe this man and learn exactly who he was and what he was capable of, and if he was the client who'd ordered this raid and the dozen others Ame had launched against Konoha then he wanted to see if he couldn't find out why, and why the man wouldn't let him pull his battalion out before they got creamed.

He'd watch him very carefully indeed.

* * *

The sun rose in the sky and Naruto smiled at his team. They'd make it, somehow he'd make them the best there was.

He wouldn't tell them yet how similar they were, he doubted they'd believe it.

He watched the kids, they were a little tired after spending so much time awake the previous night, really only he and Hinata seemed to be well rested.

It wouldn't matter, he and Hinata could handle the mission alone if necessary. True missions were meant to be learning experiences for young Genin, but Naruto felt like the team had learned enough for the time being that if he and Hinata needed to do most of the work over the course of this mission they could without babying the Genin too much.

"We'll be there pretty soon, maybe Shikamaru already took care of our bandits."

"I doubt it." Hara said, "You probably don't know this, sensei, but Nara Shikamaru is considered Konoha's Legendary Lazy Ass Ninja."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh, he'd heard Shikamaru called that, if he recalled correctly it was actually Temari who'd called him that for the first time and the title just stuck.

So Shikamaru already had a reputation, a title, albeit a negative one. Naruto wasn't known as anything other than 'Jounin Uzumaki' or perhaps, in some circles 'The Konoha Nuisance'

Hinata however said "N-Naruto-kun and I were in the same class as Shikamaru, he's one of our friends. W-we consider him to be Konoha's Genius."

"Well he's got a point, Hinata-chan," Naruto laughed, "I doubt Shikamaru would do any more than he's been ordered. Especially if Temari is with him."

"I gather that Shikamaru must be a Konoha ninja, probably a Jounin, but who is Temari?" Hitomi asked.

"The sister of Sunagakure's Kazekage. She and Shikamaru have kind of a thing going on. We've known her since we were rookies, she's kind of an honorary Konoha ninja."

"That's dangerous." Miyuki scoffed. "You can't consider a foreigner an honorary anything, if there's a war between Sand and Leaf she'll betray us without a second thought, Sensei."

"True, but we all know that." Naruto said with a shrug.

"Hey-hey!" Hitomi said, "You see that?"

"No, Hitomi, we don't." Naruto said evenly, watching the girl shudder with the knowledge that only she could see whatever she was seeing.

Until Hinata said, "I . . . I think I see it. The horizon?"

"There's smoke." Hitomi confirmed.

Naruto scowled, why could he not see smoke on the horizon? Where were the girls looking?

Not that it really mattered, if Hinata said it was there he had to accept that it was. "Move it, team!" He shouted.

**To Be Continued . . .**

**Note:** I technically owe you guys a bonus chapter for reaching 100 reviews (yay!) but it's not ready just now. I'm hoping to get it prepared by Tuesday, in any event since this chapter itself is also late I do not want anyone to worry, the update next week will be on time.

Also, I appreciate the great response to the previous chapter. I actually expected a stony silence and lack of reviews. Well anyway if you enjoyed it I am glad, and if you did not, well hopefully the story gets better for you down the road.

In any event enjoy!


	10. Embattled

**Note: **Thanks for all your patience, I'll try to get this story back on track and finished A.S.A.P. you all certainly have earned it. I am sorry for my delay.

**Part Nine **

**Embattled**

Satsujin watched the group of Konoha Chuunin move through the still smoking remains of a former Land of Fire village. They were coming towards him and his client's hiding place following a dog. "Has our scent." The teenager said to himself.

He smirked and cracked his knuckles, "The first one we kill should be the dog," he mentioned.

"You're aware that there is a dog." The client said with mild interest in his voice.

"I'm not blind, just look!" Satsujin said. He sprang forward and threw some kunai but the lucky pooch backed up rapidly, avoiding death by millimeters.

"So, we finally find the culprit responsible for the attacks," A Konoha Chuunin with a long scarf and spiky hair said, "This'll be fun. Udon, Futaba, let's get him!"

Satsujin laughed, they moved like snails and he'd smash them like snails.

He dodged and kicked their leader in the back, he tumbled and fell.

He turned to one with glasses and kicked him sharply in the face, the Chuunin fell back and dodged but Satsujin leapt away from any counter attack he might have tried to launch.

Finally the girl, Satsujin leapt out and struck her hard in the neck, knocking her down to the ground.

"Puh-lease. I'm a Jounin you puss buckets. Give up now yeah, and I promise to kill you quickly."

The lead Chuunin staggered to his feet and said "You're fast I'll give you that, but I'm not about to just give in!"

"I wish you would." Satsujin sighed, and then he spotted the dog charging towards him.

He sprang for the dog in turn and slammed into it midair, but the large beast turned out to be heavier than he'd expected; it knocked him to the ground and clamped its jaws down on his neck.

He reached up quickly and shoved his arm into its mouth, pushing back roughly so that the animal's jaws couldn't clamp down on his neck.

He kicked it into the air and it landed on its owner, he spun to his legs as the client walked calmly into the fray.

"You may want to take a step or two back young man." The client said.

"What? Why?" Satsujin demanded, and then he heard the thunderous sound.

He turned and saw eight horses riding towards them very quickly, they were friendly--to Satsujin anyway--and some of the samurai on their backs fired bows from their quick moving mounts.

Useless against the ninja really, but Satsujin backed off to avoid being run over by the horses.

The horsemen began to attack the three Chuunin but really Satsujin suspected that the Konoha ninja would win the fight.

If not for him that is.

But then he noticed the client was gone.

"Where the . . . oh you snot old man!" He growled and turned his back on the battle.

He had no idea at the time how fortunate for him it was that he left at just that time.

* * *

Naruto saw the smoking husk of a village and a group of horsemen riding willy-nilly around firing arrows from their bows--which he had to admit must have taken a lot of skill since they were doing it on horseback--and swiping with their spears.

And this demonstration of skill would have been interesting if not for the fact that their targets were in fact a trio of Chuunin, most of whom Naruto knew rather well.

He reached into his pouch and threw a pair of shuriken out. One of the armored samurai spotted it and deflected one with the blade of his spear, and caught the other with the shaft.

The armored horseman whipped his steed on and charged for Naruto, spear aimed low to impale him.

Naruto growled and caught the spear, ripping it out of the Samurai's hands. The Samurai should have been thrown far into the air for a no doubt painful if not fatal landing, but the skilled warrior released the weapon right away.

But Naruto spun it around and held it tightly as a second horseman came at him.

He jabbed it back into the ground so that the horse impaled itself, and ducked to avoid it and its surprised rider as they tumbled forward over him.

Hinata pulled Miyuki out of the way just time; he hadn't realized they were so close behind him.

Konohamaru let out a wile cheer when he spotted Naruto, and under less violent circumstances Naruto probably would have grinned with embarrassment, but just now there were eight armored horsemen causing all sorts of trouble.

The man whose horse had impaled itself crawled from the dying animal and drew a katana, he ran for Naruto but Hinata struck out, striking out wherever his light armor failed to protect him, especially his exposed elbows, and then slammed her knee into his stomach so that he doubled over with a pained grunt.

The man whose spear had been lost drew a katana as well and made as if he meant to swipe at Naruto as he rode by, but the young man made some rapid hand motions and thrust his fist out.

There was no Jutsu, he wouldn't waste the chakra on this joker, but the Samurai couldn't read minds, the armored man pulled his horse back with a surprised shout and Naruto leapt out, slamming a fist into the man's armored face.

The Samurai was knocked back and hung limply from his horse as the confused animal rode off into the distance.

The remaining samurai were only encouraged by the defeat of their comrades, two of them continued trying to pin Konohamaru and his squad with arrows, the other three--Konohamaru had taken one down--were charging towards Naruto, spears ready.

Uzumaki Naruto watched the carefully and dodged the first two, on the third he again grabbed the spear, this time deliberately cutting his hand on the spearhead. He threw the spear at its owner; it slammed into his side as he turned to draw his sword and attack again.

He used the blood from his hand and a scroll from one of his flack jacket's pouches and summoned.

The toad appeared, massive and bedecked in armor it croaked and its tongue shot out, catching another armored horseman and hurtling him off into the distance.

Naruto leapt onto it's back, "Nice one, Gamakichi!" He said.

"Heh . . . look at 'em run." The large toad croaked.

Indeed the remaining samurai were ridding off with all speed.

Naruto slid down off of Gamakichi's back and looked at his team with a grin, "All present and correct?" He asked, and then he noticed that Hitomi wasn't around.

"What happened to Hitomi?" He demanded, looking around.

"Lost track of her." Miyuki said with a frown.

"The heck, did she run away or something?" Hara demanded, seeming to realize too that she wasn't there.

Naruto got back onto Gamakichi's back, "You see her?" He asked the toad.

"Her who?"

Naruto swore under his breath. He looked around for her.

Nothing.

* * *

Moments earlier as the trio of horsemen rode towards the group Hitomi had used her eyes to her best advantage, watching one of the horsemen carefully when the time was right she leapt up, landing on the shaft of his spear she sprang up and punched the horseman in the face. Then the toad's tongue came out and hit the horseman next to her, she stumbled and fell, holding onto the reins with both hands, trying desperately to climb back up with her feet, using the staggered Samurai to climb back up.

She reached the top as the horse rode on its way after the other two, she yelped in surprise as it jumped over the debris of a building, and nearly fell to her death.

The rider was recovering now and pulling himself up, one of the other Samurai spotted her on the horse and took careful aim with his bow firing a shot that she barely managed to avoid.

Unfortunately his aim was too good to hit his comrade, who's hand lashed out, striking Hitomi hard across the face. The girl gripped the reigns tight and she fell from the horse.

But in so doing she pulled the horse sharply of course just as it entered the trees. The animal tumbled over an unexpected log, Hitomi let go and rolled several feet.

She got up and looked at the injured horse and the rider, who'd either been knocked unconscious or killed when the horse tumbled. She rubbed her head because it hurt and realized the world looked a little different.

She gasped in surprise, realizing that one of the lenses from her goggles had come out, she looked around for it in panic, she didn't want the others to see her eyes, Naruto-sensei would abandon her and Hara and Miyuki would hate her for sure.

She didn't have time to think though when the two mounted bowmen entered the woods on their horses, arrows ready to fire.

They were moving carefully looking for their comrade but no doubt they'd be in a hurry to escape from the ninja.

If Hitomi could remain hidden she might--

An arrow slammed into the tree trunk next to her head, and then her legs began to move almost of their own will.

She didn't want to run . . . but her body did.

So she complied and put her mind to it as well, running in what she suspected was the direction that Naruto-sensei and the rest of the team were in. The horsemen followed her, she didn't have much chance of outrunning them though she was more maneuverable than they were in the woods their bows--which they'd proven already to be quite proficient with--would make short work of her.

She ran through the woods not necessarily in terror, but far too scared to be sure what else to call the emotion she felt. There was a loud crash and one of the horses disappeared, it'd probably tripped.

Lucky for her but not quite lucky enough, the other horse rode on after her, its rider taking aim with his bow, Hitomi watched him with one eye, once he fired she leapt out of the way just in time.

She ran through the trees until, to her horror she came upon a clearing.

She tripped and the mounted bowman rode past her, he reared his horse and took aim at her with his bow.

Thinking quick and using her eyes to take perfect aim Hitomi threw a pair of shuriken.

Her eyes could aim perfectly but her hands weren't great at following instructions yet, one shuriken slammed into the man's bow but the other cut his bowstring just as she'd intended.

The samurai swore and threw the bow at her so that she was forced to duck as he leapt off of his horse. Katana drawn in a flash he came after her.

Hitomi closed her exposed eye and glared with the one still behind a lens. She drew a kunai and prepared to defend herself.

"Don't think that just because I'm a little girl I can't defend myself, I'm a Genin of the Hidden Leaf village, I'm a trained warrior." She warned the man, though the vocalization was more to calm her own nerves.

She told herself that this was no different than fighting off schoolyard bullies. She'd beat him into the ground and he'd wish he'd never tried to hurt her. She'd make him pay for shooting arrows at her, making her run through the woods, she'd teach him not to mess with Konoha's Ninja.

Hitomi fell into a defensive stance and the Samurai rushed forward with a war cry that fell silent when a pair of gloved hands suddenly grasped his head and twisted sharply.

Hitomi looked away in horror as the dead man toppled to the ground in front of her. Shaking she looked up at the man's killer.

She was a little shorter than Hinata-sensei but probably not much younger. She had a pair of short blades, one strapped to each thigh, though she obviously hadn't used them to dispatch the Samurai.

The most important detail of all though, was the forehead protector she wore, obscured ever so slightly by her tangled locks.

It was a leaf. She was a Konoha ninja, a Chuunin Hitomi would guess.

She was a friend.

Hitomi kept her exposed eye closed but examined her rescuer with the other, as the woman asked "What squad are you with kid? What's all this with the horseman?"

"He tried to kill me!" Hitomi cried.

"Yeah I know, I mean I waited until I was absolutely sure that that was his intention before I made my move, but yeah it was pretty clear from his actions that he meant to take you down." The young woman put her hands on her hips, "What're you doing here?"

"Came with my sensei and my team. We ran into these three Chuunin, and a dog, and the horsemen and we were fighting. I got stuck on one of the horses when they retreated." Hitomi explained as she removed her goggles and pulled her forehead protector down over her exposed eye before returning her goggles to her head.

When she found the others she'd just say that she'd injured her eye. Sure . . . that'd work. They'd believe that. She found her sharp eyes could still see through the cloth of the headband so she wasn't at any major disadvantage. Her vision wasn't as clear as it was with the goggles, but she could still use both her eyes.

She saw the Konoha Chuunin examining the dead Samurai's body. Hitomi frowned, "What're you doing?"

"Looking for any sort of orders, or identification. Not having any luck." She rummaged a bit more and shook her head, "Well let's move out."

"Gimme a second!" Hitomi complained, panting. Her lungs burned and she'd just been scared out of her wits a moment ago. Didn't this Chuunin care about any of that?

"You're a Konoha Genin aren't you? Or is that headband just a toy? Come on kid; let's find our friends before this guy's friends find him." The woman said.

Hitomi frowned, "Who're you?" She asked.

"Name's Matsuri," The Konoha Chuunin said evenly, "Assigned to Team Konohamaru."

Hitomi folded her arms as she followed Matsuri down the trail the horsemen had left. "Why did you tell me that? I mean I could be a spy."

"You mentioned they had a dog, that means the team you and your sensei stumbled upon was mine, the dog you saw was Futaba's so if we follow this trail we'll find our friends. Simple, isn't it?" Matsuri smiled.

Hitomi followed her, "There's another Samurai you know, his horse tripped back there, he had a bow too."

"Well I'll keep an eye out." Matsuri said. "Name?"

"Yeah, you already told me, thanks." Hitomi said evasively.

"Yours." The Chuunin laughed.

Hitomi sighed, "Hijiri Hitomi under Uzumaki Naruto."

Matsuri whistled, "Wow. That's quite a Sensei. Least Konohamaru and Udon think so."

"Who're they?" Hitomi asked.

"The morons who left me lookout in a tree while they had all the fun fighting a bunch of Samurai." Matsuri grinned.

Hitomi frowned and followed the Chuunin on the dangerous trek through the woods, hoping that that other Samurai wouldn't get the drop on them.

* * *

Satsujin swore when his Jutsu failed to hit both the Samurai. He knew it'd miss the first one, but there'd been that hope.

The other horseman rode on, probably assuming that his comrade's horse had just tripped.

The rain ninja slid down from the tree he'd been perched in. That Jutsu would have turned that Konoha Genin into a red stain on the forest floor, but one small thing had saved her life.

Right as she passed under him, an instant before he killed her the young Jounin had glimpsed that the goggles she wore over her eyes were broken, one of the lenses was missing and Satsujin had just happened to get a look at that eye of hers.

And in that instant he knew she needed to be kept alive, he needed to learn more about her.

He needed to know everything about that eye . . . because it looked just like his own.

And even though he'd had just an instant to glimpse it, though she'd been running through the woods at high speed he was certain. Her speed meant nothing. His eyes didn't miss a thing, even her run had been like a slow motion video to him and in that instant when he saw her and she, in her fear failed to see him--or at least failed to register his presence, he was rather well hidden if he did say so himself--he knew.

He'd find her again, and she'd tell him everything.

_Then _he'd kill her.

**To Be Continued . . .**


	11. Long Lost Cousins?

**Part Ten**

**Long Lost Cousins?**

"We'd better take a break," Matsuri said after they'd inspected the village for a very long time. "Our teams aren't here, who knows where they are."

Hitomi frowned, "But why would they just move on without us? I mean they should have come after the trail, we followed it so easily, Naruto-sensei must have been able to see it, or else Hinata-sensei."

Matsuri shrugged, "Who can say why things are the way they are. Anything could have happened, they might have seen a larger threat and been forced to move on, they might have been captured. I'll find their trail in the morning but right now I think we'd better get some sleep."

"Is this a safe place?" Hitomi asked.

"For sure," Matsuri said, "they already ripped it apart, they won't come back they've got nothing to gain from it. If they do I guess I'll just kill them."

Hitomi scoffed, "You think you can? What if there are ninja with them? What if one's better than you."

"Then I guess you'll have to back me up." Matsuri shrugged.

"I can't, I'm just a Genin." Hitomi scoffed, "I don't really even know any Jutsus, just the basics."

"That's more than any bandit knows. Use your head and the basics are lethal." Matsuri said. "If you're worried climb a tree for the night, I'll find you in the morning."

"What're you going to be doing?" Hitomi demanded.

"Keeping watch, and also . . . duh." Matsuri said, spinning her two short swords in her hands before handing one to Hitomi, "If you're attacked use this, should help."

"Help me to last until you come?" Hitomi scoffed. What a show off.

"Help you to get the job done yourself, come on kid, be real." Matsuri scoffed. She said as she walked away, "I know how scary it can be, especially since we don't know where your sensei is, but you're a ninja. If you're not prepared to take a life you're bound to find yourself in a whole mess of trouble one of these days."

Hitomi shrugged. She doubted she could kill anyone by herself, she just didn't have the skills yet.

But it'd be one major lesson to the survivors wouldn't it? One of their men killed by a little girl. Her eyes narrowed as she considered it.

Maybe she should just go out and find the bandits, fight them herself, scare them off. That had to be where Uzumaki-sensei had gone, why he'd decided she wasn't worth finding.

She waited until Matsuri was gone then slipped away out of the tree as quietly as she could and snuck off into the night.

She removed her broken goggles, her eyes could see almost as well in the dark as they could in the light, she stealthily moved through the wrecked village keeping one eye on Matsuri as she began to patrol.

The Chuunin was delusional, everyone knew that if you were separated from your squad you moved for the objective, you didn't wait to be found.

She pulled her forehead protector down over her eyes, twisting it so that the metal portion was on the side of her head and out of the way of her eyes.

* * *

Naruto folded his arms and stared at the captured bandit. "Do you know who ordered these attacks?"

"The Daimyo," was the simple answer the man gave, but Naruto doubted it.

How could a Daimyo be foolish enough to order an attack on Fire Country territories? Once the Konoha ninja and their Sunagakure allies moved on Rain's capital a thousand conscripted farmers and a hundred trained samurai wouldn't keep the Daimyo safe.

It had to be a set up.

"There were signs hung in the towns," the bandit said, "calling up the militias, our commanders led us into the Land of Fire and ordered us to burn the villages."

"And you were okay with that?" Konohamaru scoffed.

The bandit scowled, "I followed orders."

"You caused suffering." Hara said coldly.

Naruto folded his arms and glanced at Hara and Miyuki.

They weren't taking the loss of Hitomi well, though Naruto was confident they'd find her safe, she was a Konoha Genin, that put her fighting skills above any bandit.

At least he hoped so, he hadn't had much time to develop her skills, still she had managed to get the bells from him, and that in and of itself gave him confidence in her.

Miyuki was pacing back and forth frantically, Naruto couldn't tell if it was out of concern for Hitomi, or the obvious desire to rip the bandit's throat out, which she'd attempted to do when he revealed that they'd been executing townspeople.

Male townspeople anyway.

Naruto shook his head, "Konohamaru, take your team and the bandit, find their base camp then send word to Shikamaru, set up a rendezvous point and then use Gonta to find me and relay that information, our three teams will link up and eradicate the bandit presence."

"What're you gonna do in the meantime, boss?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto put his hands on Hara and Miyuki's shoulders, "We've got a teammate to find, that's my priority."

"What about _our _teammate?" One of Konohamaru's teammates, Futaba asked.

"We'll find her too." Naruto shrugged.

Hinata fell in with Naruto and the Genin as they moved out, "Shouldn't we finish interrogating the prisoner?"

"Konohamaru can do that, and catch up with us right after, the dog will help him find us. Besides I want to find Hitomi before it gets too late. Imagine being a twelve year old girl, lost and alone in the woods at night." Naruto said. "Can you use your Byakugan to track her down?"

"Y-yes. If we get close enough, of course I can spot her chakra signature." Hinata said.

Naruto had had Hinata say that for the benefit of the kids of course, he already knew.

The four moved out, Hinata leading the way as she attempted to spot any sort of chakra signature.

* * *

Hitomi slowed her step when she reached a clearing illuminated by moonlight.

She stood very still, then spun around, Matsuri's sword in hand, "All right Matsuri, if you're going to follow me you might as well--" She stared but faltered when she saw a teenage boy standing behind her.

He wore a rain country forehead protector like a blindfold over his eyes. He had long black hair and scars going down his face over his eyes, probably why he wore the forehead protector over them.

He wore long, flowing gray robes beneath his rain country flak jacket. He was leaning on a staff, but otherwise seemed unarmed. He smiled at her, "Expecting someone else?"

Hitomi frowned, "Who're you? What're you doing here?" She asked, not lowering the sword.

"Bandits." He said simply.

"You're an ame ninja?" Hitomi asked.

"I seem to be." He said. He began to walk a circle around her, "I am also a Jounin, so never mind your sword, if I wanted you dead you would be."

Hitomi lowered the blade. She'd assumed he was blind because of the scars and the cloth he wore around his head, but she guessed she herself should know better than anyone that looks could be deceiving.

She watched him carefully, her heart began to throb in her chest, the one advantage she thought she had over this possible opponent had disappeared.

If he attacked her she'd have no chance.

"Stop shaking," He laughed, "I told you I want you alive. You and I, _we're_ not enemies."

"You came to stop the bandits then?" Hitomi asked.

"I think I'm the one who's going to ask the questions."

"You're in Fire territory, okay?" Hitomi said, gripping the sword tightly, "That makes you my prisoner."

"You speak so carelessly," The Jounin said, "I could rip your throat out before you even realized I'd moved from this spot."

As if to prove himself right he suddenly struck out at her, moving faster than any normal being could see.

Not Hitomi, she saw him come and she threw herself back, trusting Matsuri's sword up into his wrist and twisting it viciously. She was surprised when he was suddenly replaced by a log.

It nearly fell on her, but she rolled out of the way and came up, sword in hand looking around frantically.

"Nice." He said, standing behind her again she spun around and leapt back. "Relax, I told you, if I wanted you dead you'd be dead."

Hitomi frowned, "What do you want, then?" She asked.

"Your eyes." He said calmly.

"You can't have them." Hitomi hissed.

"I don't want to take them from you," He said, pulling the forehead protector away from his eyes, "I don't need yours."

Hitomi gasped when she saw this boy's eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" She whispered, "You're--oh my gosh!"

"My attack on you was a test, if you hadn't been able to dodge it I'd have plucked the eyes from your head. Obviously though, you know how to use them. They can stay in your head for now."

"Gee, thanks." Hitomi said with a scoff. She wouldn't waste time, "Look, where are you from really? Where does _this_," she demanded, pointing to her eyes, "come from? I mean are we related, or is this some kind of disease, what's wrong with us?"

He raised his eyebrows at her, "What? Wrong? Disease? Are you mad?"

"Why can't I be like a normal person?" Hitomi demanded.

"Why would you want to be? We're _better _than normal people, you're capable of seeing things they can only imagine." The Jounin said.

"I just want to be like everyone else." Hitomi whispered.

The Jounin gently patted her shoulder, "Little sister, you're _better _than everyone else. You're a goddess, they're peons. Who can compare to us?"

"The Uchiha." Hitomi said.

"All but extinct. What do their eyes do anyway? They see through Genjutsu just like we do, their advantage is to copy Jutsus, but that's useless if you lack the skill to _use _a Jutsu."

"The Hyuga then." Hitomi said.

"They're so inbred they'll go blind in a few generations. They can see chakra, big deal. We share their ability to see through most objects, to see everything around us, to a warrior what could be more useful? You don't need to see an enemy's chakra points to kill them."

Hitomi hesitated, "I can't see through anything heavier than a towel." She said.

"Then you're still growing," The Jounin told her, "Believe me, by the time you're at my level of skill you won't be ashamed to stare a Hyuga down."  
"So the Hattori then." Hitomi said.

"You can already see in the dark, you can tell a real shadow from a Jutsu with common sense. Never mind seeing while inside of shadows, we don't shadow walk."

Hitomi shook her head, "But no one hates them. I've seen Hyuga children my age, no one throws things at them, no one calls them names or beats up on them. Uchiha Sasuke is treated with reverence, not contempt, even though he tried to destroy the village!"

"That's mad." The Jounin said, "Your branch needs to be more aggressive, kill a few Hyugas and the rest of the village will respect you."

"Or hate us more. What do you mean branch?" Hitomi demanded.

"Well obviously you must be a branch of our clan. I mean, how else would you have those eyes? They're not exactly common."

Hitomi frowned, "My mother had eyes like mine . . . like ours. No one else I've ever met has. I . . . I don't know where she came from."

"You never asked her?" The boy asked.

"She left when I was a kid, ran off for who knows where." Hitomi grumbled.

"First of all, you're still a kid so that statement doesn't help me know how long ago your mother left you. Second of all, are you certain you have no idea where she went?"

"Well dad said she went to see some grandfather I've never met."

"Then she must have gone to your clan. Well it's simple then, you and I just need to find them." The boy folded his arms, "Do you have anything that might lead us to them?"

Hitomi thought of the letter her mother had left her.

"Nothing." She said. "I've got nothing."

The boy eyed her suspiciously, then he said "Well . . . I'm sure you'll remember something later." He frowned, "Do you like your friends?"

"Yes . . ." Hitomi said. "On balance if I call them friends I like them. Of course on balance I don't actually call anyone 'friend' I mean there are _comrades_, and--"

"Yes well, if you don't want them dead I'd better be going." The boy said.

"Wait, what are you talking about? You didn't tell me anything about your side of the clan, maybe _that's _where my mother went!" Hitomi protested, but the boy disappeared in a whiff of smoke.

Matsuri burst through the trees, "Are you all right? Why did you run out on your own? Why are you blindfolded?"

Hitomi considered a dozen different answers, then finally said "I'm a complicated person."

"At least!" Matsuri laughed nervously. "Come on, lets get out of this clearing."

"What're you so worried about?" Hitomi scoffed.

"I don't want to be out in the open in enemy controlled territory." Matsuri said, "We don't own this land right now."

Hitomi shrugged. Given that she'd just spoken to a Jounin who may or may not be a cousin of hers, but came from a whole different country, she had no choice but to agree.

* * *

Satsujin scowled, "She knows _something_." He whispered. "If she didn't I'd have killed her."

"Why does it matter to you?" The client asked.

"Because I need to know exactly the same thing _she _asked _me_." Satsujin hissed, "where these eyes come from! Where does the clan hail from? I thought I had the only eyes like this left in the world, but then there she is, stumbling into my path. It's fate, she's going to lead me to the others, I know she is."

The client smiled, "I know a thing or two about obsessing over special eyes. It only leads to destruction. Focus on the mission you've been hired to perform."

"Don't presume to order me around, you're paying the village for these raids, I'll kill these Konoha ninja when the time comes, first the girl is going to show me the rest of her clan."

"Then what?" The client asked.

"Then I kill them, then I'll be the only one with these eyes. That's how it should be, only I deserve this power."

**To Be Continued . . .**


	12. Waking the Fox

**Part Eleven**

**Waking the Fox . . .**

Miyuki's hands were shaking. She was so mad, she was so furious, she wanted to hurt something, hurt someone.

Hitomi was missing, terrible things could be happening to her, and while they wandered around in the dark looking for her bandits were going around burning villages, killing men and raping women, taking little girls' fathers away from them, doing worse to their mothers, maybe even to the little girls themselves as well.

And she couldn't stop it.

When she'd been the one suffering she'd prayed for someone with strength to rescue her and no one ever did. Eventually she'd understood that that _she _needed to be the one with strength and she had been, she'd killed her uncle, she'd set herself free of his power and ensured he'd never hurt anyone ever again.

Then she'd agreed to be a ninja. The Hokage had said to her 'you can make sure no one ever goes through what you went through' but it was a lie. Miyuki knew then that it had been a lie because no one could help _everyone _but she thought she could help _some _people.

She wanted to help people.

Normally.

Right now she wanted to hurt people. She wanted to kill people.

Bandits, evil people, bad guys, she only wanted to hurt bad guys, but the desire was overwhelming and it made her feel every bit as unclean as he uncle ever had. Her hatred, her rage, they refused to release her, they were eating her alive and she was aware of it, yet unable to turn away from it.

She wanted them to die, she wanted all of these bandits to die. Even the ones that hadn't committed wrong themselves had to die for allowing their comrades to get away with it.

They _all_ deserved to die, _she _wanted to kill them.

_Hatred is wrong, it's evil, this feeling makes _you _evil,_ she thought to herself, _let it go, it won't help you find Hitomi, let it go, you're only a Genin, you're not a powerful ninja yet, when you're stronger you really will be able to do something, for now just let it go . . ._

She thought that to herself repeatedly, and ignored her own inner voice repeatedly.

She was so mad. How could people spend their lives thinking only of themselves? How could anyone be so selfish? To seek out pleasures of the flesh no matter who they hurt? Why? How?

She wanted desperately to find a group of bandits, find someone to hurt, someone who deserved to be hurt.

She wanted to kill them, after all she was already going to suffer for eternity after she died, she'd already murdered her own uncle, been taken outside of marriage, what worth did the tattered remnants she called a soul have left? She'd just keep killing, keep punishing the wicked.

Why? Why didn't they understand they were hurting people? Why were they being so selfish? Didn't any of these bandits stop to think that maybe they didn't have the right to hurt innocent people?

Well . . . now they'd have to die of course. They'd had their chance to live and let live, now Miyuki would live to make sure they died.

She held a kunai in a shaking hand. She wanted to hurt them so badly, she wanted to hurt someone, the first bandit she saw she'd kill them, she'd slit their throat, she'd treat them with all the viciousness they deserved.

* * *

Hitomi and Matsuri hid near the line of trees, "There's bound to be bandit patrols," Matsuri said, "we need to stay hidden."

"I thought we had to stay put, why are we moving now?" Hitomi asked.

"No worries kid, just know I've got a reason." Matsuri said.

Hitomi wondered . . . the boy had sensed Matsuri coming before she arrived, had she sensed him? Still yet had she _seen _him? He disappeared an instant before she burst through the trees, had she glimpsed him?

"Well why don't we just walk out in the open?" Hitomi asked, "Our friends would have an easier time spotting us if we did."

"So would our enemies." Matsuri said reasonably.

"But we can handle them."

"Maybe." The Chuunin said calmly.

"You're not scared are you?" Hitomi scoffed.

"I'm terrified, kid." Matsuri said grimly. Hitomi raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask for an explanation Matsuri supplied it, "I've never seen or heard of anything like this. These aren't bandits, they're organized, there are Samurai leading them, this is an incursion. All we can do is try to find some friendly faces. I don't want to die, but if I were by myself it wouldn't be so bad y'know? But I've got to at least make sure you're safe, so we've got to get to a safe place."

"To Konoha?" Hitomi asked.

"No, no point going there. They won't let messenger birds through, they'd stop us."

"Samurai versus ninja I'd bet money on the ninja." Hitomi reasoned.

"Sure, but a Jounin versus a Chuunin and a Genin? If this is an incursion by another country, if I'm right and we're under organized attack then there's _got _to be ninja out there."

Hitomi nodded slowly, was that boy . . . was he an attacker?

Of course . . . he had to be, why else would he be in Konohagakure's territory, and then run from Matsuri? If he were friendly he'd have made his presence known to the Chuunin, might have offered the two of them some help or something.

Hitomi frowned, "What's the plan?"

"We get to the nearest village. Hokage-sama must have dispatched teams to each threat, if the village was under threat we'll find more Konoha ninja there, if it wasn't we might still find a precautionary force, or defend it ourselves."

"What if the village was already attacked and left? What if Konoha ninja came and were defeated?" Hitomi asked, "What if we find our teams . . . you know . . ."

Matsuri didn't say anything for a while, then she said "Then we find another village, we keep moving."

"Okay . . ." Hitomi whispered.

Suddenly there was a flash, like a ball of flame.

Matsuri raised her head, "Konohamaru-sama's Jutsu?" She wondered.

Hitomi leapt through the trees towards the flash, eager to find more Leaf ninjas.

"No! Kid come back!" Matsuri called so quietly that Hitomi barely heard her.

Hitomi ran, she was scared, she didn't want to admit it out loud but she needed Naruto-sensei, she needed Miyuki and Hara, she needed to feel some sort of security.

She could head shouting, odd sounds, banging and clashing, it must be Naruto Sensei calling for her, it _had _to be, he was trying to find her, that was it. She ran faster, leapt over a ditch and headed for a slope.

But it was steeper than it had appeared, she tumbled forward and rolled over the ground, flying off the slope and hitting a tree branch on her way to the ground.

She landed hard and coughed, all around her was . . . fighting?

Men and women, horses, swords clashed, spears cracked, Hitomi regained her senses quickly, she saw an incoming strike and dodged it.

Who would attack a child? A little girl?

The man who'd attacked her came at her again with his spear, but it was cut in half at the shaft, Matsuri kicked him roughly in the stomach and he fell to the ground.

"Finish him!" Hitomi cried.

"No, he's ours!" Matsuri snapped, "Kill the _enemy_, Hitomi!"

Hitomi looked through eyes all but unhampered by the darkness.

Farmers armed with staffs and pitchforks, bows and arrows were fighting for their lives against uniformed soldiers and Samurai.

Matsuri rushed the uniformed soldiers, her two short blades flashing out like lightning she struck and struck and struck before anyone even realized she was there, her lithe frame moved through the tangled lines of friend and foe striking down enemies and rescuing allies.

The militia was trying to retreat, Hitomi understood that now. They must have rallied to fight bandits and discovered that the threat was really more than they could handle.

The battle was probably only minutes old too because if had been raging for a long time Hitomi would have heard it while she moved along the road.

No, this was the sound she'd mistaken for her sensei's calls, how stupid had she been?

How frightened had she been? How desperate?

She couldn't let Matsuri fight this battle alone . . . but to get involved she would have to . . .

She swallowed a lump in her throat, "I . . . I have to kill them." She said out loud in order to force herself to hear the words.

Matsuri wasn't taking prisoners, Hitomi wouldn't be able to either.

She leapt forward and was suddenly pinned.

A kunoichi with a grass country forehead protector was kneeling over her, one hand held her down by the throat, the other raised a kunai, "Kill us indeed, I'd like to see that."

"See this!" Matsuri roared, coming in to Hitomi's defense only to herself be best by two more grass ninja.

She fell to the ground hard but rolled to her feet and raised her swords in time to deflect a flurry of incoming kunai.

Hitomi could see everything, she could see the Fire militia slaughtered by these grass soldiers, they were running but with mounted samurai they wouldn't get far . . .

And she and Matsuri wouldn't go any further either, soldiers as well as what looked like another ninja were closing in on Matsuri, she wouldn't be able to fight them all off and the woman pinning Hitomi snickered and brought the knife close to her face, "Are you blind little one? Then you can't see this knife . . . well let me help you _feel _it better."

Blind? Of course, Hitomi's forehead protector was pulled down over her eyes, she must look blind.

She waited, holding perfectly still.

Her arms and legs were free, the kunoichi only held her by the throat . . .

Hitomi reached into her equipment pouch and pulled out the first thing she could grab, she slammed it hard into the older woman's back.

The grass ninja pitched forward, her kunai burring itself in the ground where Hitomi's head had been before the girl twisted it aside.

The cut had meant to rake across her cheek, if the woman had tried to slit Hitomi's throat she would have been helpless.

Hitomi wouldn't make that same mistake.

She gripped the kunai she'd had in her hand, she'd hit the woman with the handle instead of the blade.

She lashed out again, this time to kill the woman but the Chuunin moved like lightning and got behind Hitomi.

She was fast but Hitomi's eyes could track the movement, she spun around and thrust her hand forward, stabbing for the kunoichi who clearly hadn't expected it.

She dodged, the knife cut into her flack jacket but didn't score and blood, Hitomi kicked out roughly towards the woman's legs but she was gone again, attacking from the other side.

Fighting wasn't so terribly hard, Hitomi thought. As long as she could see everything her opponent was doing she could prepare to defend herself.

Then she was proven wrong, the grass ninja's hands moved rapidly and then the grass around them became hard, it sharpened into a thousand little needles, "Blades of Grass Blizzard!" The woman sneered as needle sharp blades of grass uprooted themselves and flew at Hitomi from all directions.

She could see them but she couldn't defend herself, she was finished.

From the corner of her eyes she saw a flash of red, felt an overwhelming sense of doom. She turned her head to look at oblivion itself.

* * *

Naruto saw the blast, "What was that?" He demanded.

"That wasn't natural fire," Hinata said, "That was a Jutsu."

"Let's go!" Konohamaru--who had found them again much sooner than Naruto had expected--shouted, the two squads moved quickly.

They saw men and women running towards them, they were armed.

Miyuki rushed forward, whipping her arm back to throw a Kunai at the nearest person but Naruto stopped her, grabbing her wrist before she could throw the blade, "No, they're not bandits they're Fire civilians!"

Miyuki seemed horrified at what she'd nearly done, Naruto didn't give her time to think about it, still holding her wrist he pulled her along, "Come on, they're running from _something_, that Kunai will still go to use."

There were hills covered in trees, the ball of fire they'd seen before had set some of those trees aflame, the civilians were running for their lives from those burning trees.

The samurai followed, their horses made running down the fleeing villagers simple, Naruto took Miyuki's kunai since it was closer to his hand than any of his own and whipped his arm out, the kunai flew and slammed into the neck of one of the horses, the beast tumbled forward, its rider snapped backwards as his horse crushed him.

Konohamaru used a fire Jutsu to light up the moonless night, Futaba's dog Gonta, careful to stay away from the trampling horse hooves, managed to leap up and latch onto the leg of one Samurai.

Nartuo pressed onward, something called him to those trees, something told him he needed to be there, not out in the field fighting the horsemen.

He jabbed a soldier in the throat as he entered the woods, took the man's spear and hurtled it like a javelin into another soldier, he dodged an arrow and threw a shuriken at the bowman, then leapt into the branches and moved from tree to tree searching for . . .

Hitomi . . . he saw Hitomi struggling against a ninja, a Konoha Chuunin was nearby fighting for her own life as well, and yet fresh soldiers and more ninja were coming forward.

Naruto roared in fury, it surprised him a bit, but that was the only word for what escaped his lips, a roar.

He threw himself out of the tree and moved at top speed for the ninja that was attacking Hitomi.

Hitomi's head twisted towards him, she saw him coming, the grass ninja did not.

Naruto thrust his hand out, snapping the woman's neck with a single thrust, he saw himself glowing with a blood red aura, somehow it didn't seem important.

_Just run with it, _he thought _**Just accept it, **_a voice seemed to say.

He reached for one of the two Chuunin attacking Hitomi's companion, they turned to see him, but too late.

He reached for them and his arms seemed to extend to reach them.

No, not his arms, the blood red aura, it stretched out, became claws, gripped their necks and brought them closer to the onrushing Naruto.

He swept his hands out wide then brought them together, smashing both men together so violently that above the sounds of battle Naruto still heard the cracking noise and the splattering sound.

The oncoming soldiers had stopped charging, the ninja leading them seemed unsure now.

He glanced over his shoulder, the soldiers began to run, he decided there'd be no shame in doing the same.

Naruto didn't want to let him, didn't want to let any of them, wanted them all to die.

_**Kill, kill them all, spill more blood, annihilate, ANNIHILATE!**_

But he had Hitomi, she was shaken but she was safe . . .

That was what mattered, he knew what was happening, he had to get control of himself . . .

Blood covered the ground, bodies lay everywhere, screams continued from those who hadn't seen him and fought on, and the nine tailed fox, the presence he felt in his own mind struggled to break free.

Naruto closed his eyes, retreated into himself, saw himself standing before the gates of the fox's prison, "Enough, we've saved the girl, the others are running."

**Enough? **The beast growled, he felt it's energy surging forward, **It will never be enough. Kill them, annihilate them, kill, **_**kill**_**!**

Naruto focused on regaining control, focused on the gate, told himself that the fox could never get past that gate, the fox knew it too, heard him telling himself and understood that in the end it did nothing without his approval.

This was his body, its power was his power, they had fused together but it was still _his _body.

The demon fox settled back in its prison, quiet but far from calm.

Naruto opened his eyes, what had been several minutes of internal struggle within his mind had really been a mere second on the outside world.

He turned to Hitomi, the girl was shaking like a leaf, she backed away from him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"It's okay . . ." Naruto told her, "You're okay, Hitomi-chan."

"Matsuri? Matsuri you're alive!" Futaba cried as the rest of the Konoha ninja came running towards them.

Konohamaru reached them, grabbing Matsuri's wrist and pulling her up, "What happened?"

"I barely know, Naruto-sempai showed up and the other guys went running, he took out three Chuunin in less than a second, I didn't even see it!" Matsuri said in shock.

Had it really been _that _fast? To Naruto it felt much slower.

Hitomi was still shaking, but she had stopped backing away from him, maybe she realized he wasn't going to hurt her.

Or maybe she just didn't think she'd get very far anyway. After all if he wanted to hurt her she wouldn't so much as have time to turn around to run, he'd rip her throat out before--

Naruto staggered back, the force of his own thoughts hit him like a ton of bricks.

_I'm in control_, he told himself, _I'm in control, __**I **__am in __**control**__!_

The canrage around them, the battle, the blood, the dead and the dying . . . yes he was in control . . . but it was hard.

"Let's get out of here you guys," Naruto whispered, he looked at Hitomi, "You _are _safe now, I won't let anything happen to you."

The girl managed to stop shaking, she nodded slightly.

Matsuri had been distracted defending herself, she hadn't seen him and even if she had it wouldn't have worried her.

Hitomi had probably never seen the red aura of the demon fox beore. Matsuri, being a Konoha ninja, had probably seen it or at least heard about it from Konohamaru. It must have been terrifying for Hitomi to see her joking sensei suddenly act so brutally, Naruto supposed it was a little terrifying for himself as well.

**To Be Continued . . .**


	13. Gathering

**Part Twelve**

**Gathering**

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "How does it look?" He asked.

"We've sent the civilians back to their village, they're armed so they won't be totally helpless but it's still dangerous, I hope they make it." Konohamaru said.

"We can't spare any ninja to escort them to Konoha, against normal bandits their militiamen will do okay but against ninja they're in trouble." Naruto agreed, "However if the enemy knows what's good for them their ninja are looking for us."

"What are you planning, boss?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto folded his arms, "Once Shikamaru gets here he'll figure out the details, but I want to try to get the enemy concentrated in one spot so we can take them out."

"Sounds tricky." Konohamaru grunted.

"Yeah, I know they won't do it just to be nice, we have to find some way to lure them to us, something they can't resist but that's hard when we don't even know what they want or why they're here!" Naruto sighed.

"I wonder if there are any other teams in the area, I mean besides yours, mine and Shikamaru's." Konohamaru said.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't remember Granny mentioning it. No, no I'm sure there aren't, at least there weren't when I set out. A lot of them were being sent to other areas."

Konohamaru nodded, "At least both our teammates were safe."

"Our timing couldn't have been luckier though," Naruto grunted, glancing over at Hitomi who was being examined by Hinata, the closest thing they had to a doctor.

Naruto glanced at the others too, Hara was sitting near Miyuki, who hadn't said a word since the battle, she just patiently watched Hinata tend the scrapes and bruises Hitomi had sustained.

Hinata had tried to examine Hitomi's eyes but the girl refused, Naruto thought for a moment about that. She said her goggles had been broken, but she could see through the cloth of her forehead protector just fine. Naruto believed it, forehead protectors weren't the densest of headwear except for the metal plate.

But still if there was a chance that Hitomi's vision was at all obscured he didn't want it to be a problem, if they were attacked or if they attacked a group of enemy ninja the slightest disadvantage could end Hitomi's life.

Naruto glanced at Konohamaru and said "Hey, this might sound crazy but do you still have those goggles you used to wear?"

Konohamaru shook his head, "Nope. You stopped wearing them so I stopped, I mean if you didn't need 'em why would I? Udon still carries his around with him, sentimental value I guess. Why?"

Naruto called to Udon, "Hey, can I borrow those goggles of yours, Udon? I'll need 'em until we get back to Konoha . . ." he was a little reluctant to add, "and there's a chance they might get damaged."

Udon didn't even hesitate, "Sure, whatever you want." He reached into his pack and tossed Naruto the goggles.

"Thanks," Naruto said and turned back to Konohamaru, "We'll let the others get some rest. You and I will use Shadow Clone sentries."

"All right boss." Konohamaru nodded.

Naruto jogged over to Hitomi, Hinata fumbled with a bandage as he crouched down next to her, but he pretended not to notice. "She looks okay, get some sleep Hinata."

"O-okay, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, and scurried away.

"Here Hitomi," Naruto said, "They're Udon's and he'll need them back in one piece as soon as we're back in the village. They're not quite what you're used to but . . ."

Hitomi avoided eye contact as she accepted the goggles.

Of course with her eyes hidden behind her forehead protector it was difficult to know whether or not she was always avoiding eye contact, but the way she turned her head suggested she didn't want to make eye contact with him.

He didn't blame her; his attack on the grass ninja was still probably fresh in her mind. He knew it was fresh in his.

As if to confirm his thoughts Hitomi asked, once the goggles were safely covering her eyes, "Sensei, that thing you did with the red chakra . . . are you going to teach us that?"

Naruto smiled weakly, "It isn't something I can teach . . . and I don't know if it's something you'd want to learn." _Not that it doesn't have its benefits, but sometimes it's a burden, _Naruto thought.

"You were so fast I almost didn't see you, you were so powerful they didn't stand a chance, of course I'd want to learn it." Hitomi frowned, "Are you sure you can't teach me, or do you just think I'm not good enough to learn?"

"I think you could learn whatever I tried to teach you, I bet you could learn my most powerful Jutsu _someday_, but that red chakra . . ." He shook his head, "I was born with that." _Kind of . . . well not actually _born _with it, but I've had for as long as I can remember._

"Born with a special talent . . ." Hitomi said, and it sounded more like she was talking to herself than to him, "I bet everyone respects you for it."

Naruto almost laughed, he might have if not for Hitomi's tone.

It sounded jealous . . . what was Hitomi hiding behind those lenses?

As Sakura had suggested she had a bloodline inheritance trait, Naruto would bet a lifetime's supply of ramen on that . . . but why would she want to keep it a secret?

He shook his head slowly, realizing she'd already answered that question.

"Nobody respected me for it when I was a kid. They all hated me. It made them feel uncomfortable to be around me. The adults in the village, I reminded them of something terrible, and the kids my age picked up on their parents' dislike of me and so they treated me like dirt too."

Naruto could see he'd guessed right by Hitomi's reaction, suddenly she was facing him, fully attentive, "But now . . . now they respect you."

"It wasn't easy." Naruto said, "I had to earn every bit of it, practically had to sweat blood."

Hitomi shook her head slowly, "But they respect you now . . . no one ever calls you a freak, at least not to your face, I haven't heard them."

"No." Naruto agreed, "not to my face anyway." He paused, "Did Akane used to call you that?"

"What do you know about her?" Hitomi scoffed.

"You didn't like her very much, I know that." Naruto ventured.

Hitomi didn't know what had happened to Akane . . . Naruto wasn't so sue it was his place to tell her, nor was he sure she needed to know just now.

Still he felt like he'd hit on something, she was opening up, he was starting to understand her just a little bit better and he didn't want to lose that track.

"Akane used to beat me up all the time, she and her friends used to call me names . . . because I was . . ." Hitomi trailed off.

"Different?" Naruto offered. Hitomi's lips thinned, she didn't speak. Naruto cracked his knuckles and said "If you had it to do over again, would you have attacked Akane?"

"Defended myself against her you mean? Yeah." Hitomi said darkly, "My whole world changed that day. With one act I changed everything. My mom left me, and good riddance, I don't need her . . . Akane never picked on me again, I guess she's been too scared . . . I became a ninja, I got to meet people like Miyuki and Hara who know what it's like to go through rough times, I don't have to feel alone anymore." Hitomi frowned, "When we get back to the village, I think I'll pay Akane a visit though . . ."

"To beat her up some more?" Naruto asked.

"No . . . to tell her I'm _not_ sorry I defended myself, but I _am _sorry if I hurt her too badly. Sometimes I think about that day . . . I wonder if maybe I was too angry, too violent. I wanted them to stop forever; I wanted them to know better than to hurt me anymore . . . but . . . afterwards . . . I felt different you know? A little afraid of . . . myself. Afraid of what I'd let myself do . . . and for all the changes in my life that day I was still lonely. I haven't ever had friends until now . . . maybe Akane could have been my friend if things were different. Maybe she still can be."

Naruto stared at Hitomi. She really _didn't _know . . .

He closed his eyes, "When all this is over . . . I'll take you to see Akane."

"You know her?" Hitomi asked.

"I know _of _her. I've known of her since I became your sensei." Naruto said, trying to be evasive.

Hitomi didn't notice, "Okay then . . . I guess the Hokage gave you instructions to keep us separated huh?"

"Something like that." Naruto said calmly.

Hitomi frowned, "Naruto-sensei . . . you really _don't_ hate us, do you?"

Naruto smiled, "No way."

"Then will you tell me the truth about something?" Hitomi asked.

"Probably," Naruto said, "unless it's one of those 'if I tell you I have to kill you' answers."

Hitomi nodded slowly, she said "What do you think it's like to die?"

Naruto was completely taken off guard, "Wh-what?"

"I know you don't _know_ what it's like, but what do you _think _it's like?" Hitomi asked. "Do you think it's like being asleep forever? Or do you think everything just . . . stops."

Naruto frowned, "Why do you ask?"

"I think about it a lot." Hitomi said flatly. "Dying I mean. I used to think 'the sooner the better' because I was always so unhappy . . . but when I was out there without you and the others I was scared, I was still unhappy but I didn't want to die, I wanted to live, even if I hated my life I wanted to live. I don't understand why."

Naruto smiled weakly, "You're very young Hitomi. I'm sure you just realize that there's a lot you still need to accomplish."

"What do you mean?" Hitomi asked.

"You're a kid," Naruto explained, "You haven't seen a lot of things. You've never seen a foreign land; you've never eaten foreign food for starters. You've never played an instrument, owned a pet, since you've never had friends before I bet you've never played any sort of sports. There's a lot that you haven't experienced yet, a lot the three of you haven't experienced yet," Naruto said, looking over his shoulder at Hara who was sitting nearby trying to pretend he wasn't eavesdropping.

Miyuki was lying in a sleeping bag a little further away watching them quietly, listening but not interfering.

Naruto said "I'll show the three of you everything I can."

"So we can die happy?" Hara laughed.

"No," Naruto shook his head, "So you have something to live for. So that when your life is on the line you won't have to wonder why you want to keep it, you'll just _know_. Whenever I'm in danger I know what I have to live for." Naruto jerked his thumb towards Hinata, "Friends like Hinata-chan, Konohamaru or Udon, rivals who always challenge me, the village I have to protect, and most importantly of all the future."

"The future?" Hara asked.

"Someday I'm going to be the Hokage," Naruto said, "So I can't just let myself die before that happens now can I?"

"Hah, you're tough Sensei, but you'll have to get in line behind me if you want to be Hokage!" Hara said playfully.

Naruto smiled, "I bet someday you will be . . . but only after I retire from the position."

Everyone laughed but Miyuki, and though it was hard to tell because the collar of her jacket obscured her face Naruto was pretty sure her eyes were smiling.

"All right, get some sleep," Naruto told them, "Tomorrow morning we're going to try to sort everything out so we can go home."

The three of them followed his orders; he used a shadow clone Jutsu, saw his clone head off to patrol along with Konohamaru's clone, and then settled down and went to sleep himself.

But his dreams were chaotic.

The Fox was loose, he saw flashes of carnage, sometimes he was the one causing it, and sometimes others were.

He saw Konohagakure in shambles, he saw Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Hinata, _everyone_ dead or dying around him and he couldn't help them.

Worse he felt like maybe he'd been the one to do it.

A gruff sort of laughter, the Fox's laughter rang in his ears . . .

He woke up frequently that night, every time he woke he tried going back to sleep . . .

But the nightmares were there every time he tried.

He knew all this danger and blood was exciting his perpetual companion . . .

I have to keep it under control, he told himself each time he woke up.

He repeated it to himself as he tried to all asleep.

But in the end he might just as well have patrolled instead of his Shadow Clone because he didn't manage to get so much as a single hour or restful sleep before a familiar face appeared in front of his.

Chouji shook him gently, "Rise and shine Naruto, Shikamaru wants to discuss his plans with you . . . and he's brought some guests."

* * *

Satsujin paced back and forth, the frightened Grass Jounin stood before him, flanked by a pair of rain Chuunin. "So he was glowing red?"

"It was the Konoha Demon, no doubt about it." The Jounin nodded slowly, addressing the client rather than Satsujin even though he'd answered Satsujin's question.

The client smiled, "Ah Naruto-kun . . . out in the open where I can get you, hmm?"

"You know the demon?" Satsujin scoffed.

"But of course." The client smiled.

Satsujin licked his lips, "Has he got a weakness?"

"Very probably." The client said evasively.

"Can we defeat him with our available forces?" One of the Chuunin blurted, and Satsujin scowled at him.

"What does it matter? We're pulling out, remember? He's not our target, he never was." Satsujin said.

"Actually," The client said calmly, "Naruto-kun has _always _been your target."

"Actually," Satsujin mocked, "I don't _care_, I won't lead these men to their deaths on your account, we fight for the highest bidder but we don't die for nothing. We don't have orders to hunt down any Konoha ninja, at so far we've had to just take your word that you're the client who sent us out here, I've humored you but frankly enough's enough."

"Konoha's Demon has been a thorn in everyone's side for years," The second Chuunin whispered, "But we've got a huge force here, rain, grass, more than just ninja we have militia, and doesn't it all make sense now? Why else would we attack the land of Fire without any intention of keeping the lands we take? We're here to take out the Demon!"

"Silence!" Satsujin ordered.

"Listen kid," The first Chuunin said, "You may outrank us but you're still just a teenager, you don't realize what's at stake here, if we take out the demon of Konoha . . . just think of the possibilities, can you even imagine? If word got out that lesser villages took down Konoha's top guy . . ."

"We'd be legends, even those of us who died," The grass Jounin added, "our villages' fortunes would increase, and everyone would want to hire the village that defeated the last of the demon warriors."

"Konoha would lose power, Fire would seek aid from other villages, how do you think the Great Villages became great?" The second Chuunin added, "They saw opportunity and they took it, we can do that!"

Satsujin scowled, he looked around at the assembly of Shinobi and Samurai, he knew he was going to be outvoted on this, and he didn't technically have authority over the samurai or their men . . .

But he did have authority over his own Chuunin, "I won't march you to your deaths, you're going back to the village today, if the higher ups decide to send you back then so be it."

"You talk as if you weren't going back with them," The client said a little snidely, "of course I know you don't plan to. You're a good leader, you won't risk your soldiers' lives on a personal vendetta, but you're a poor strategist. Wouldn't your chances of success increase if the Demon were . . . distracted?"

Satsujin looked off into the distance, "What's our total strength?"

"We have forty seven samurai together," The grass Jounin said.

"Sixty three samurai, you forget the armies I purchased from Waterfall. Just over three hundred conscript soldiers."

"Militia." Satsujin corrected, but the client just snickered.

"Counting myself I've got thirteen ninja, two other Jounin, eight Chuunin and two Genin."

"If we contact the other cells we've got only one Jounin, and nine Chuunin, we didn't _bring _any Genin." Satsujin said, still looking into the distance. Somehow this moment, the pooling of numbers and resources . . . somehow it felt . . .

It felt like the beginning. The beginning of something bigger . . . something horrifying . . . something amazing.

Soldiers . . . yes the client was right, these weren't militia, militia were rounded up to protect their homes from bandits and missing nin, these men had been rounded up and armed for the purpose of invading and burning the Land of Fire . . . they were soldiers.

This was . . . _war_.

The realization struck Satsujin like a gold brick, the force of it hurt but it was a gift beyond any he'd yet imagined.

War . . . a real war, none of this cloak and dagger ninja nonsense, but a chance to fight on a real battle field, to kill and kill and not be held back, to do as he pleased . . . and that girl . . .

He smiled sinisterly as the others continued to excitedly discuss what their total force comprised of, the client seemed eerily to know exactly what everyone had before they confessed it, and he scolded anyone who tried to withhold information . . .

But Satsujin was having other thoughts.

That Chuunin had said it himself, how did the great villages become great?

He'd been wrong though, at least partially. They hadn't just seized on opportunity, _everyone _did that. They'd become great because they fought wars and they _won _them.

How had the world reached its current state? Their ancestors had warred, and killed, they'd made the world and made it to their liking, they' done things right and done things wrong, they'd created the great nations, created the smaller nations, all of it done by the ninja.

How did the great clans become great?

The Uchiha, the Hyuga, the Hattori, how did any of them become the living legends they were today?

They'd been heroes of those wars.

Satsujin closed his eyes, his amazing eyes. That girl . . .

The clan . . .

Only he deserved these eyes . . . but . . .

He saw a vision as he stared into nothingness, he saw himself, he saw that girl, he saw an entire clan of ninja like them, elders and youths alike . . . and he saw himself ruling them.

No longer just some Jounin of a lesser village, the head of the greatest clan of all, and she'd help him achieve that.

He'd need her alive . . . but the others . . .

The client was watching him, Satsujin scowled again; folding his arms he glared at the client, "What's your name, old man?"

"My name? Orochimaru."

Satsujin snorted, "Orochimaru? Like the Sanin?"

"Exactly like that." The client "Orochimaru" said calmly.

"I heard he died." Satsujin sneered.

"You could call me a . . . spiritual successor." The client said coldly.

In the end the forces were assembled, over three hundred soldiers were split into fifty man platoons, each led by a single Samurai.

The sixty three samurai would burn the countryside and lure any Konoha ninja to a single location.

Then encircling them the entire army would thrust in and attack, the ninja would strike as well.

"Konoha won't get any reinforcements, their ninja are distracted elsewhere, this isn't the only zone of attack, there are battles all over the Land of Fire, Konohagakure has nearly a thousand ninja and over half of them are currently out and about, they won't dare empty the village itself. There are six Konoha Jounin, four Chuunin, and three Genin."

"I'll handle the Genin and any Chuunin that get in my way," Satsujin said quickly, no one would touch the girl, she was _his_.

"Eliminate them quickly so you can help out with the Demon," The grass Jounin said, "If all the soldiers swarm them, if all us ninja attack at once, if we can separate them at all this should be an easy victory."

"Six Jounin is nothing to laugh about." Satsujin warned, "Especially if one of them is the Konoha Demon."

The client laughed, "Between the three lesser villages attacking today there are seven Jounin, one for each Jounin even if you run off after those children. There are twice that number in Chuunin, and hundreds of soldiers. Naruto-kun is finished."

Satsujin nodded slightly, "One Jounin isn't always equal to another, don't assume that numbers will grant victory."

But no one listened; even Satsujin had to admit he was just nay saying, how could this force, their enemy so perfectly trapped, fail to destroy the demon?

Even if more Konoha ninja arrived they'd have to be demons themselves to stop this army . . . this would be the first battle of a new war, a war Satsujin intended to use to become a living legend.

* * *

Sakura burst through the doors of Tsunade's office, "Tsunade-sama!" She screamed to wake the Hokage from her usual nap, but in fact Tsunade was already awake and Sakura only succeeded in drawing an irritated expression from her.

But her news was too important to be worried about that, "Tsunade-sama, you won't believe this! Look, look at this!" Sakura held out a map, "Do you see it?"

"Move your hands I--what?" Tsunade frowned, looking at the map.

Sakura pointed to various locations, "The bandit raids, we did the research--"

"Already?" Tsunade demanded.

"It wasn't hard, ma'am," Shizune said, panting as she ran into the room, catching up with Sakura who'd left her in the dust to inform Tsunade all the sooner, "They aren't even trying to cover their tracks!"

"All the funds for the bandit raids are coming from one place, but the bandits are coming from practically every corner of the continent, some have even sailed from the Land of Water and it's worse."

"How so?" Tsunade demanded, "What's worse than bandits attacking from every corner?"

"They're not bandits!" Sakura and Shizune cried in unison.

"But you _just said_--" Tsunade cried, but Sakura cut her off.

"They're rallied by the governments, this employer is paying the Daimyo to send militiamen headed by Samurai into our lands!"

"Which means that there's bound to be ninja as well, that explains why falsified reports have been getting past our field teams!" Shizune added.

"An insurrection then? Some fat cat trying to overthrow our own Daimyo and establish himself?" Tsunade-sama demanded.

"Tsunade-sama, the "client" calls himself the Otokage," Sakura slammed her finger down on the map, "The money is all flowing from the ruins of the old Sound village!"

"If they're not covering their tracks how did we not notice this earlier?" Tsunade demanded.

"We weren't looking." Sakura suggested helplessly.

"We got too comfortable with peace." Shizune said.

Sakura didn't want to admit it, and the look on Tsunade's face told her that the Hokage knew better, but Konoha's vigilence _should _have caught something this significant before the first bandits ever set foot in the Land of Fire.

Something was terribly wrong.

There had to be a traitor in Konohagakure, and it had to be someone high up on the chain of command . . .

But who? Sakura could count herself out of course but who else could it be?

She glanced at Shizune, no it wasn't Shizune, at least it shouldn't be, she and Shizune had much the same job, there wasn't much if anything that came to Shizune that didn't come to Sakura too, and it came through a dozen others before it reached them.

Certainly it wouldn't be Tsunade herself . . .

"Who's leading the Anbu these days?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade laughed bitterly, "Uzuki Yuugao. Lets go you two."

"What, don't you want us to have her brought here?" Shizune asked.

"If she's a traitor she won't just saunter on in here," Tsunade said coldly, "and if she's innocent we can't trust a messenger with this and we'll need her to find the actual traitor. Come on you two." The Hokage commanded.

**To Be Continued . . .**

**Note: **Readers of New Blood know the true identity of "the client" however the line in this chapter where he confesses himself to be Orochimaru didn't exist in the original _Red Eyes_, it's been added in this, the revision/rewrite because I now know things I didn't know when the original _Red Eyes _was written and because I thought it sounded cool. Sue me.

The Anbu leader, Uzuki Yuugao was always the same character though I feel obligated to admit that until this time I didn't know her name, for some reason I never thought it that important. Shortly before posting this chapter it occurred to me that if just about every background character has a name (and they do, by the powers they actually do!) I should see what Uzuki's was so I'd have something to actually call her. In the original _Red Eyes _she was simply referred to as "Captain" and her identity was made evident by the things she said and did, because I didn't know her name and didn't care enough to research it, after all the original _Red Eyes _was never going to be posted online, I could afford to be lazy. But this way it's easier on the readers to have a name to attach to the character.

For those who, like me until so recently, have no idea who Uzuki Yuugao is however, Yuugao was the female Anbu from the Chuunin exams, the girlfriend of Gekkou Hayate. This was indeed, always the character meant for the role of the Anbu's leader in this story.

I didn't use Danzou in the original story though I don't now remember why, it may be that Red Eyes was written before he was introduced (I don't think it was but it's possible, it's hard to think that far back) or I may have assumed he'd get sorted out before the time period that Red Eyes takes place in, that's certainly the assumption I gave Akatsuki and Sasuke. Oddly enough I sparred "the client" that assumption and the result was having to re-plan a portion of New Blood. Go figure.

Anyway after the final chapter I plan to fess up to all the changes I had to make, characters that got swapped, lines that got added to keep up with the canon (something I do because it's fun to do, not because I consider Red Eyes in any way a canon work) I may even do a bonus "director's cut" chapter including the original ending of the story, even though the original ending was never written (the final chapter of red eyes didn't get finished) I still remember what I'd planned to do with it. We'll see when we get there.


	14. Final Moments of Peace

**Part Thirteen**

**Final Moments of Peace**

Hara could not help but listen in on Naruto-sensei's conversation with his old friend, a Jounin named Nara Shikamaru.

"The Genin are going to be a liability, Naruto." Nara Shikamaru whispered.

"Don't be ridiculous, they've already fought in a big battle and they didn't let me down." Naruto-sensei whispered back.

Hara smiled slightly, proud that his sensei felt that way. He glanced at the girls, Hitomi betrayed nothing behind the goggles Udon had loaned her but he suspected she was listening in; Miyuki was hugging her legs to her chest, her heavy coat draped over them so she looked sort of like a rock with a cute head. He wondered if it was coincidence or intentional, maybe she could hide her head too and look like a rock . . . it could be useful.

She was drawing hidden village symbols in the dirt with a kunai, but her eyes were on Naruto-sensei, not even trying to hide the fact that _she _was listening in.

So Hara stopped bothering to pretend as well and just watched Naruto-sensei. He felt a sort of admiration for his sensei, Naruto-sensei knew they hadn't been ninja for very long but he was vouching for them, he'd known Shikamaru for years he'd said, ever since he was a kid himself, he probably trusted Shikamaru's opinion but he was standing up and saying that they had the skills needed to fight.

"It's not their skills I'm questioning," Nara Shikamaru said, "the fact is once the battle starts you're going to be the main target Naruto."

"I am?" Naruto-sensei gawked, "but who knows where I am?" He turned and looked at the two so-called bandit prisoners under guard by Konohamaru and his Chuunin squad, as if he expected them to explain but they did not.

"You're probably not the reason they're here, like you said who knows where you are? But the fact is once the fighting starts they'll figure out you're the toughest one of us and make you a priority, they'll try to find a way to take you out and all you have to do is move _once _to aid the Genin and they'll _know_ those kids are your weakness." Nara Shikamaru said calmly, no longer bothering to whisper.

Naruto-sensei sighed and shook his head, "You can't ask me not to protect them, Shikamaru. I mean what about Temari, huh?"

A Jounin named Akimichi Chouji snickered, but a woman from Sunagakure scoffed, "What do you mean? I can take care of myself. Been Jounin longer than anyone else present."

"Even so, if Shikamaru had orders not to protect you he'd ignore them, count on it." Naruto-sensei said.

Shikamaru shrugged, "I never told you not to protect them either, Naruto. All I said was that they are a liability; I think the best thing for us to do would be to keep them out of it. Ino is out medic so we shouldn't risk her in open confrontation, but she _is _a Jounin, let her take the kids and keep an eye on them."

"That's a terrible plan." A blonde woman, Yamanaka Ino said, "I'm a Jounin, sure I'm a medic but so is Hinata-san, and anyway I'm a large amount of your present firepower if I do say so myself, these two confessed that we'll be running into ninja and samurai from the Rain country, you'll need me."

"Better for you to stay in reserve, if something bad happens you can be the cavalry," Chouji said.

"The kids too," Shikamaru added, glancing at Naruto-sensei, "if we're desperate enough. Listen Naruto, I know they're your students but--"

Naruto-sensei shook his head and said "Listen, Shikamaru, it's not like that . . . it's complicated these kids . . ." he glanced at the tree of them and then whispered something Hara could not hear.

Shikamaru shook his head and said, "I understand that but do you really think you can guarantee your own safety _and _theirs? We don't know just how big this enemy is going to be, Naruto, are you _sure _you want to do this?"

"Absolutely." Naruto-sensei said, "I'd trust these kids with my life, they're my squad, and anyway they won't have to know they're _my _Genin." He looked at Hinata, "Hinata's been with me all this time, anyone who may have witnessed us might think she was the sensei if the kids make a point to call her that and stick by her."

"I-I could try to keep an eye on them." Hinata said.

Shikamaru nodded slightly, "Fine, if you're sure then I'm okay with them being here. Now here's the plan--"

"You already thought up a plan involving us?" Hara blurted.

Shikamaru smirked at him, "I thought up three plans involving you, two plans without you, one plan involving only one of you, seven plans involving just two of you--"

"Don't ask him questions like that," The Suna woman, Temari scoffed, "He can't help but boast."

Shikamaru ignored her and continued outlining the strategy, "It'll be everyone's responsibility to keep an eye out for one another," Shikamaru said, looking straight at Hara, "that goes for you three too. If you see a catastrophe you're close enough to prevent don't leave it to one of us, we might not see it, you need to be willing and ready to do what has to be done, is that clear?"

Hara nodded, he knew what that meant.

He'd be expected to take lives . . . and so he would.

Miyuki had taken a life before, but as far as he knew, Hitomi had never done so.

It'd be up to him to take care of the girls, keep an eye on them and keep the pressure off Sensei to do so.

It would be up to him.

* * *

Shikamaru swallowed hard and said, "It's going to be rough, but we'll come through this. Still, don't get careless." He told Temari.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Worried about me?"

"No one who knows you could fail to worry about you," Shikamaru said, it didn't take Temari long to realize it was meant as a taunt, one of the things he liked about her was how quickly she caught things like that and how quickly she responded.

"Well you know I might be a bit crazy, I mean I only put up with you for what, seven years now? I can see why you'd think I'd slip up subconsciously, but don't worry, I was raised not to believe in suicide."

"You were raised not to believe in dating foreigners too."

"Good point." Temari smirked; she glanced at Naruto and whispered, "You know maybe you should lead a Genin squad."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "What?" He asked.

"Being in command has really brought a change over your buddy there; I mean he's usually a total goof. Talented, kind, but a goof. See here though he's totally focused on the mission, totally pumped."

"So what, I'd be less goofy if I trained Genin?"

Temari shrugged, "You might be more motivated, maybe stop being so lazy about everything, you're always procrastinating." As she said this she held out her hand in front of her as if she were examining her nails, Shikamaru however knew what she was really implying.

He just yawned.

"We'll rip 'em apart you know . . . why were you so worried about the Genin?" Temari asked.

Shikamaru folded his arms, "The things we've seen . . . someone's behind this, someone clever. I don't want to take unnecessary risks."

Temari frowned, "We'll be fine. Come on, this is all just part of being a ninja."

Shikamaru looked into the distance, "You know I only decided to become a ninja because the paychecks were good." He smiled slightly, "Of course if I'd never been a ninja you'd never have given me the time of day. Then again I guess I wouldn't have known you well enough to care."

"Trippy, isn't it?" Temari smirked.

Shikamaru turned and looked at the assembled group of ninja, "It's going to kill him you know, if anything happens to one of those kids. Try to keep an eye on them."

"Sure, sure." Temari yawned, "Not that you technically have any authority over me or anything. I'll do this as a favor."

Shikamaru nodded and sighed, "What a bother . . . still at least this didn't turn out to be grunt work. Guess I'd better be more careful what I wish for."

* * *

Sakura cracked her knuckles and Tsunade-sama knocked sharply on the door.

They waited a moment, then just as the Hokage was about to knock the door down it opened slowly.

A woman in her middle age smiled slightly, "Hokage-sama, and her aids, what an honor." The Anbu captain said as she let them in.

Shizune stepped in first, and then Tsunade-sama and Sakura went in last.

Uzuki smiled, "I hadn't heard you were coming, Hokage-sama."

"Secrecy was important. You'd know all about that." Tsunade-sama said, testing Yuugao's response.

The younger woman smiled, "Of course."

Sakura frowned, was Tsunade-sama going to be direct about this? It was too bad Ino wasn't in town; she could have been very useful in interrogating Uzuki.

"Uzuki, we've investigated the situation . . . it didn't take much to understand what was going on, a lot of the information had reached Konoha . . . but wasn't being reported properly by your Anbu." Tsunade said flatly.

So she was going to be direct.

Uzuki looked shocked, "What are you talking about? What information? My Anbu wouldn't withhold anything from the sacred office of the Hokage."

Sakura frowned. It was no confession. Could they perhaps count on Uzuki?

Tsunade scoffed, "The information stopped at you, _you _weren't getting us the information, Uzuki."

That was a lie, Tsunade hadn't seen the information trail that Sakura and Shizune had, _they _knew that it was not at all connected; they'd had to piece it together.

Uzuki smiled weakly, "Hokage-sama, if I were withholding information I wouldn't have left any evidence."

Tsunade nodded slightly, "Indeed. If you were a traitor the reports would have been eradicated, wouldn't they?"

"If I were a traitor, Hokage-sama, I can only assume that's what I'd do." Uzuki nodded.

"But you're not a traitor." Tsunade-sama said softly, "at least you don't think so."

Uzuki's eye narrowed, "Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but I don't understand."

"When did he approach you? " Tsunade-sama asked calmly, "What did he offer you?"

Uzuki clenched her fists, "I have no idea what you're talking about!" She shouted . . . but not before her eyes darted towards a picture hanging on the wall.

It was of Uzuki and another ninja, a man Sakura remembered very vaguely.

He'd been at her first exam, a proctor who'd been murdered before the third exam.

What was his name again? Gekko?

Tsunade-sama didn't miss the glance, neither did Shizune.

Shizune was behind Uzuki before Sakura could blink, Uzuki spun, drawing a blade from a sleeve and swiped at Shizune but the other woman threw herself backwards, kicking the blade out of Uzuki's hand, Sakura rushed in and grabbed the older woman from behind, locking her arms behind her back.

Uzuki didn't substitute or anything like that, she just remained still. "I guess I'm under arrest?"

Tsunade-sama walked over to the picture and took it off the wall. "So that's it then? You think he'd be brought back from the dead? Orochimaru was the only one who could even come close and even then his revived doubles were imperfect to say the least."

"Imperfection is still better than nothing." Uzuki said coldly.

"You'd sell out your entire village? To who?" Sakura grunted.

"No, you're wrong!" Uzuki shouted, "I am _not _a traitor, I am loyal to Konohagakure!"

Tsunade-sama turned on Uzuki and hissed, "You misled our offices, let us send teams out with faulty information, these bandit raids are incursions and we can't fight them properly without the Intel your department deprived us of, yet you dare claim to be loyal?"

Uzuki scowled, "You're panicking over nothing, the raids are a diversion, not an incursion . . . he _promised _me, all he wants is Uzumaki."

"He? He who?" Sakura demanded.

"Hokage-sama already said his name." Uzuki growled.

Sakura saw Tsunade's look of confusion as she tried to figure out just whom Uzuki meant.

But she'd said just one name besides Uzuki's since coming into the house.

Orochimaru.

"He's dead." Tsunade said flatly.

Uzuki shrugged, "He seemed alive enough to me. He isn't interested in the village or anything else, our Anbu detected the flow of money and supplies to the bandit groups and lesser countries, we investigated and he came to me." Uzuki's voice softened, "He told me . . . all I had to do was keep quiet, all he wanted was Uzumaki, he didn't want the village. He was too old to take it over he said, too tired, all he wanted was to remove the last of the tailed demons. He'd kill Uzumaki and destroy the demon, then use his body to . . . to revive my Hayate." Uzuki's voice became a growl, "I was doubtful at first, but . . . after a while I thought 'what have I got to lose?' and I agreed."

"You'd just throw a fellow Konoha ninja to the wolves like that?" Sakura roared.

"If he were your loved one it wouldn't matter whose life you had to trade." Uzuki said, "You'd do it."

Sakura's eyes narrowed, "Naruto _is _one of my loved ones, one of my closest friends and I won't let you get away with this," she tightened her grip on Uzuki's arms enough to cause serious discomfort but not enough to cause lasting injury, "And it isn't just Naruto that might die, you gave the enemy the keys to the kingdom and now it's going to take everything we've got to set things right."

"But you won't be there to participate." Tsunade said coldly, "You'll be spending some quality time with our interrogation teams. You'll tell them everything; consider it your final duty as a Konoha Shinobi."

Uzuki didn't resist, "I'm not a traitor." She said flatly, "You won't need to interrogate me. I'll tell you everything you want to know. But you know I'm not the only one."

"Of course," Tsunade-sama said coldly, "But you're a start. Shizune, get her out of here, Sakura . . . come with me. Naruto will need help."

"How? We don't know where he is, even if we did we're days away and he could already be in trouble." Sakura said.

Tsunade-sama smiled, "That's why every second counts."

* * *

Shikamaru sat in quiet meditation, Ino and Hinata were going over their medical supplies, Konohamaru, Udon and Temari were laying traps while Futaba and her dog Gonta looked for scents.

Matsuri and Chouji were patrolling the perimeter, and Naruto was standing guard over the Genin as they practiced.

Low strain procedures only, they could be attacked at any point and he wanted them to conserve their chakra.

So they practiced kunai and shuriken throwing, and some light hand to hand against multiple fully-grown opponents--in other words squads of Naruto's shadow clones.

Naruto knew he too had to conserve chakra but he wasn't too worried, he had chakra to spare and using the clones wasn't all that straining on him, he made sure they didn't have very much of his energy.

As it turned out Hara was exceptional at throwing projectiles, and he'd started to incorporate it into his practice fights with Naruto's clones. Hitomi was exceptionally fast, not as fast as Naruto but then nobody expected her to be at Jounin level,

Miyuki however wasn't terribly skilled in close quarters combat. In a pitched fight where her skills at stealth meant little she was at a major disadvantage compared to the other two, Hara had even taken it upon himself to try to protect her which was good in that it showed they were willing to work together, but bad in that it meant that Miyuki was now the most tempting target of the Genin.

If Miyuki was threatened both Hara and Naruto would react, if both Hara and Naruto reacted whatever threatened Miyuki would threaten Hara, Naruto might not be able to protect Hara and Miyuki at the same time.

Shikamaru had made a plan though that would keep most of the focus on the Jounin, by being flashy and generally devastating Naruto, Chouji and Temari would be the enemy's main targets simply because they would be inflicting the most damage on the enemy force, Temari with her an, Chouji with his ability to super size himself, and Naruto because with his ability to mass clone himself he _was _an army.

They expected to be attacked one at a time by small groups but Shikamaru said that if everything went well the enemy would attack them all at once.

"We haven't covered our tracks at all; they know we're Jounin and we have some of their people. They can _try _to hunt down the villagers who _are _covering their tracks, or come after us before we use these prisoners to inform Konoha of everything. Given the lengths they've gone to thus far to keep us quiet I'm sure we can count on them coming for us." Shikamaru had said.

And so Naruto had hoped.

And now . . .

Now they'd find out.

* * *

Satsujin waited anxiously, hands gripping kunai.

Everything would come to an end perfectly; he'd save the day and get the girl . . . in a sense anyway.

"Everything's in position," he whispered to the client, "We're ready to move."

"Well then . . ." The client, so-called Orochimaru said, "move."

**To Be Continued . . .**

**Note: **Just two chapters to go! When I said Red Eyes would have 15 chapters I meant it, however originally I expected to post the prologue and chapter 1 together, but didn't so the grand total will be 16 pats: a prologue and 15 chapters.

In other words those of you hoping that the next chapter would be the last, the finale, the ending are in for a great disappointment when the next chapter merely reads "To Be Concluded . . ." instead of "The End"

It's because the prologue and chapter one got separated, not because I enjoy cliffhangers . . . no wait . . . maybe it's both.

Enjoy!


	15. Satsujin's Revelation

**Part Fourteen**

_Satsujin's Revelation_

"They're coming," Temari said softly enough that her voice didn't travel far but loudly enough that Naruto heard her.

Naruto looked at the assembled squads. He, Hinata and the Genin, Shikamaru's team and Temari, and finally Konohamaru's Chuunin squad. All told there were thirteen of them, a small army by ninja standards.

And the fight they were about to fight felt ominous.

Naruto didn't doubt it was just one of many more to come.

They'd wipe out all the so-called bandits in the area . . .

And yet beyond that . . . there was something on the horizon, some darker future . . .

He blinked, the time for thought had passed, someone screamed from far off, a bandit stumbling into a trap no doubt.

There were a couple more, distant but slowly coming closer.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the three trappers, Konohamaru, Udon and Temari.

There was a loud bang, and the sound of a falling tree, some more shouts, the enemy wasn't bothering with stealth now, they were charging.

"Just what kind of traps did you guys set?" Hara gasped as another tree fell.

Konohamaru just laughed a little maniacally and drew a short blade, "Let's do it!" He shouted.

Naruto smirked, "Let's do it!" He repeated to the Genin, and in the blink of an eye all thirteen of them leapt into the trees.

* * *

Satsujin watched the client carefully, "Well?" He demanded.

The robed man smiled, "Go ahead . . . but keep your mind on the mission."

Satsujin scoffed. He had his own mission. He saw the ninja moving about in the trees and though he could distinguish where the trees were he could also see the flashes of movement, the ninja moving behind them and through them.

He leapt, "Come to me . . ." He whispered, he saw the client pull a pair of scrolls from his back and throw them out.

They summoned a small platoon of Samurai who had agreed before hand to be summoned by the client, a way of getting troops close to the ninja quickly.

The hooded figure didn't even seem bothered by the amount of chakra he must have expelled to summon them, but he did sit down on a stump and fold his arms, patiently watching the fight.

* * *

Hitomi leapt and gripped a tree branch, she clung to it with chakra in her hands, then swung up and landed on the branch of another nearby tree, clinging with the chakra in her feet she sprang forward and landed on another branch.

She spotted her first target, a bandit soldier, she threw herself down from the tree landing right behind the bandit.

He kept running but she hooked her leg out and tripped him, she drew a kunai, meaning to slit his throat and move on but suddenly she was thrown back several feet.

She rolled to her feet and Hara appeared next to her, helping her up.

"What was that?" Hitomi demanded.

"Fan chick." Hara grunted, and Hitomi saw that the Suna Jounin had shoved her back with a gust from her fan.

Her irritation disappeared when she saw the ground she'd been standing on was now a field of senbon.

Fast as she was even she wouldn't have been able to dodge them.

Then she saw them, the forehead protectors.

These ninja were from three different villages, Grass, Waterfall . . . and Rain just like the Jounin she'd seen before, the Jounin with her eyes . . .

She didn't know why, but it bothered her to imagine fighting someone who might be a relative, fighting a village that might be her homeland . . .

But that didn't bother her as much as the idea of her friends getting hurt, when she spotted a samurai charging for Miyuki, sword raised high into the air she sprang into action, throwing a kunai that slammed into the man's hand, unfortunately it didn't make him drop the katana.

Hara's shrunken did the job however, he threw a single shuriken and it sliced deep into the man's throat.

Hitomi heard a pained gurgle, but that was the last clear thing she heard because after that everything became chaos.

Soldiers were everywhere, she didn't know where they'd come from; they'd seemed to just appear. Were they part of some Genjutsu?

And then she saw him, moving swiftly through the trees.

Most movements were slow motion to her, his were not. He moved fast, very fast..

He kicked Hara down from the trees to the waiting soldiers, shoved Miyuki away and even swatted Udon out of the air with a dropkick.

He landed, his face an inch from Hitomi's, through his blindfold and through her goggles their eyes met . . .

Somehow, and she didn't know how, those eyes were familiar beyond simply resembling her own.

And yet she had no illusions, she knew this was a battle and that this boy wouldn't hesitate to destroy her.

She punched him in the stomach, or tried to anyway, he easily rolled out of the way, grabbed her wrist and threw her through the branches and leaves of the forest canopy, she would have slammed straight into the higher trunk of a very thick tree but Hinata-sensei must have seen her go flying because the medic ninja caught her.

They both still slammed into the tree, but it didn't hurt much since Hinata had put herself between Hitomi and the tree to soften the blow.

A pair of Rain Chuunin showed up, one grabbed Hitomi and raised a knife to her throat, but that boy appeared like lightning and punched his comrade in the face, he hurtled towards the ground where Naruto-sensei was leaping through the trees to reach them, the Chuunin nearly slammed into Naruto-sensei but he grabbed the man midair and kicked him down, then grabbed a tree branch and swung himself up further.

But it was too late, Hinata-sensei was fighting against the other Chuunin, Hitomi was on her own against this Jounin.

He grasped her wrist again and pulled sharply, she felt the pain of her arm being torn from its socket, but before he could grab her other arm she drew a kunai and struck out him, he swept his hand out, knocking the kunai from her grip but with both hands occupied keeping hers busy he'd left her an opening.

She was shorter than him so it was something of a high kick, still she aimed for his groin and--

He blocked her, then threw an arm around her neck and got behind her so that she was between him and Naruto-sensei who'd so suddenly appeared, "Back off, blonde," He growled.

Naruto-sensei glared, "Let her go, pick on someone your own size."

"Your sensei doesn't get it, tell him to back off, or I'll slit your throat." The boy said to Hitomi.

"_You_ back off!" Miyuki shouted, leaping down from a higher branch she raked a kunai across the rain ninja's back, he stumbled forward, releasing Hitomi, Naruto-sensei sprang for him, some sort of swirling Jutsu appearing in his hand.

"Rasengan!" He shouted, but the rain ninja used substitution, Naruto-sensei missed and continued his journey down to the ground.

Hitomi looked at Hinata-sensei, she was gone, where was she? Had she killed the Chuunin and moved on, or had she been killed instead?

Hitomi turned to Miyuki, who grasped her arm and roughly popped it back into joint, "Son of a--I mean thanks, I _think_ . . . how did he not notice you?" She asked as they leapt from the branch towards Hara who, along with the woman called Ino, was being encircled by bandits.

Or soldiers, Hitomi supposed.

"Did _you _notice me?" Miyuki panted just a little smugly, and Hitomi had to admit that she hadn't.

_But in my defense_, she thought_, I was distracted . . . _

* * *

Satsujin swore as he fell from the tree, Uzumaki came on, and he chose just the right moment to use substitution, though it was tricky, Uzumaki was pretty fast, and a miscalculation would have meant his death.

The attack was _not _going well. There'd been few fatalities so far, but mostly because the Konoha ninja were breaking off before delivering killing blows so they could support each other, settling instead for knocking foes out or disabling them. Incapacitated soldiers and ninja might not be dead but they were just as useless.

He needed to get that girl, this battle would be lost but he needed to get that girl.

He'd make another attempt, she and that other girl were rushing off to aid their comrade and a medic surrounded by soldiers and a pair of grass ninja of ranks unknown to Satsujin.

Their ranks didn't matter either, he waited until the four Konoha ninja were together and then he made his move.

He leapt into the center of their group and grasped the lovely blonde woman by her shoulders, he shoved her forward towards a group of spearmen, and as he suspected the boy and his female target both moved to the woman's aid, the boy threw a trio of shuriken, two of which hit home, one killing a spearman by sinking into his throat, the other slammed into another man's eye, causing him to drop his spear and scream in pain, the third missed, but by mere millimeters.

The girl used her eyes well, saw two of the spears drop and shoved her superior to the side, through the gap in the spear wall while she herself aimed for the other.

She didn't make it, Satsujin moved before the other girl who'd cut him before could finish sneaking up on him again, grabbed his target by her ankle and threw her into her companion.

Both girls shouted in pain as they hit each other, Satsujin stole a spear from a still living grass soldier and held it up to deflect the male Genin's shuriken, then twisted it in his hand and threw it with all his might so quickly the boy would have no time to dodge.

But the blonde woman intercepted it, something Satsujin hadn't expected, and she held two fingers in front of her face, "Mind Blast Jutsu!" She shouted, and Satsujin felt sort of a mental punch hit him square in the head.

He staggered back and lay prone on the ground, knowing full well the Jounin would move on rather than finishing the job, she'd assume he was finished, after all no Ame Jounin would just lie down with a battle raging, he'd get up or use substitution to get into a better position.

So she turned her attention on the two grass ninja, the boy Genin rushed to his two teammates to help them up and Satsujin sprang.

He grabbed a pair of kunai from his pouch and slashed both his target's teammates, cutting the girl across the chest and the boy across the back, both fell and he grabbed his prize.

He knew he couldn't interrogate her on the battlefield and he knew he couldn't carry her away without her struggling, he hoped injuring but not killing her comrades would cause whomever their Jounin sensei was to tend to the others instead of chasing after him, but he doubted it, it wasn't what _he _would do and he couldn't assume the Jounin was a fool.

He produced a paper tag from his pouch, it was an explosive tag, he slapped it onto her throat, "If I remove my hand you die, now come with me," he said quickly, and grasping her neck but not strangling her, he ran into the forest.

* * *

Naruto saw that Rain Jounin slash Hara and Miyuki, he saw him grab Hitomi.

Then his vision started to blur.

He ran after them, creating a clone to check on his injured Genin while his true body ran off after Hitomi.

But no sooner had he finished the Shadow Clone Jutsu than his clone was killed and he was knocked to the ground.

Hinata appeared over him, she grabbed a spear and raised it up to stab him in the back, but of course she wasn't the real Hinata, the real Hinata slammed into _that _Hinata, and they were both in turn knocked back by a summoned beast.

A snake.

This was no ordinary snake, it was massive, it swept down and struck at Hinata--the real one, the fake one had turned out to be a Waterfall ninja whose disguise failed when the snake hit them.

Naruto leapt to his feet and lunged for the snake with a Rasengan at the ready.

The snake shrank in size and flew backwards like a ramen noodle being slurped up.

Naruto followed it to its point of origin, a man dressed in a black robe and hood, the snake hadn't been a summoned beast, the snake had been his own arm, grown to extreme proportions.

Naruto knew who it was just by the hand, but still he swept his hood back, revealing the half-deformed face.

He smiled and though against the din of battle Naruto couldn't see him, he read his mouth movements as they said, very calmly, "Hello Naruto-kun."

"Kabuto!" Naruto screamed, now he couldn't turn his back, "Hinata, go after Hitomi, use your Byakugan to find her, go!" He shouted, and he sprang forward, not even bothering to see if Hinata was complying, he had to assume she was.

But even as he rushed for Kabuto he felt it, the twinge of rage, he saw his chakra turn red and then, in a split second to the rest of the world Naruto fell into himself.

_**Let . . . me . . . out.**__ The Demon Fox growled._

_Naruto saw himself, standing in front of the iron bars, the seal intact, he looked at the fox, tilting his head to the side, "If I do that how will I ever contain you again? You'll hurt everyone I love."_

_**Let . . . me . . . **_**out**_**! **__The fox said much more forcefully._

_Naruto shook his head, "I can't do that, I don't need you."_

_**You need me. **__The fox laughed, __**You want to save the children, kill your enemies . . . I've been trapped here for these many years, if you die, I die, I cannot let you waste my talents, my power, let me take control!**_

_Naruto shook his head, "You'd kill my enemies and my friends alike, you can't control yourself, I can't control you, you're wasting my time!"_

_**Your time? **_**Your **_**time? **__The fox roared, slamming itself against the bars with extreme force, __**I've been here since your birth, trapped behind these bars, every attempt at freedom has been thwarted, it is **__**my **__**time that's been wasted!**_

_The demon calmed suddenly and glared into Naruto's eyes, __**What we want is not so different. You want to destroy your enemies, I want to destroy. You want to protect your territory, I too would never damage my own home . . . let me free, I'll tear these creatures apart!**_

_Naruto smirked, "Yeah right. You've never protected anything in your life--"_

_**I've had ages to learn, you cannot win without me! **__The fox roared, but surprisingly, at least to Naruto, rather than try to drive the point home by letting his chakra scintillatingly radiate out from behind the bars as he usually did the fox withdrew deeper into his cage._

_He withdrew until Naruto could no longer see him, could barely feel his presence . . . Naruto realized what the fox was doing._

_It was going to try to prove to him that he couldn't win without its help . . ._

He came back to the real world, not a moment had passed of course, he lunged for Kabuto and Kabuto leapt back several paces, a giant serpent sprang forth from his arm, or at least his arm became a giant serpent.

Naruto formed a Rasengan but a dead body leapt up from the ground and grasped his wrist, it pushed itself against his Rasengan, obliterating itself, and wasting the Jutsu.

Naruto realized now that he was _surrounded _by dead or dying enemy soldiers and ninja . . . Kabuto had chosen his battleground well.

But how was he controlling the dead bodies? Was it some form of puppetry?

Kabuto smirked, Naruto saw that several other ninja and soldiers were closing in on the two of them now, his friends were trying to keep them away but a couple made it through.

Naruto fought them off, doing well at first . . . until Kabuto got involved too.

Kabuto's serpent arm shot out for Naruto, its fangs sinking into his left shoulder, a grass Chuunin threw a pair of shuriken which Naruto threw a pair of shuriken to intercept but Kabuto pulled back on his left shoulder and though he'd thrown with his right arm it threw his aim off enough that he missed both shuriken.

Konohamaru threw a pair of kunai to intercept but he was too late, one of the shuriken missed Naruto very narrowly, the other sank into his thigh.

A pair of rain soldiers charged and let their spears led, Naruto kicked one of them away, the other grazed his side.

Kabuto's snake arm wrapped around Naruto, squeezing him, crushing him, a soldier thrust his spear forward, right for Naruto's face.

_The sound of laughter rang through Naruto's ears, the fox was laughing._

_**You . . . need . . . me.**_

_Naruto shook his head, "Fine, grant me some of your power then."_

_**No.**_

_Naruto was staggered by the blatant refusal, "If I die you die!"_

_**If you live I remain a prisoner, a slave.**_

_"Better than both of us dying!" Naruto protested._

_**Is it? Free me, or we both die.**_

_Naruto scowled, "Never." He said flatly, "How do I know you won't just turn on my friends, on my people?"_

_**Trust.**_

_"Are you kidding?" Naruto demanded, "Trust _you_?"_

_**Why not? Have I ever lied to you? Have I ever betrayed you?**_

_"I've never given you the chance, I know that's exactly what you'd do, never mind the fact that if you took control of me I'd die anyway!"_

_**You created the tool for **_**our **_**empowerment . . . you and I will not be separated, I won't be able to kill you.**_

_Naruto hesitated, then finally he nodded._

_He barely placed a finger on the seal before the doors to the cell exploded outward, the fox emerged from the cell . . ._

_**I will not allow you to die . . .**__ The fox growled._

_"Rescue my friends, they're what matters." Naruto said._

_The fox didn't answer._

The world came rushing back, but now Naruto wasn't alone.

His chakra burned red, Kabuto's snake arm slid away quickly, whether he was hurt by the fox's chakra, or if he was simply smart enough to back off Naruto couldn't tell.

Naruto placed his hands together, "Perfect Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He shouted, and suddenly he was in two places.

But only for an instant.

His second form began to grow red, though Naruto was still outlined in red chakra himself, his second self began to expand, he fell forward on all fours, first one tail, then two, then three, the fourth and fifth came out together.

Naruto felt a compulsion, he leapt onto the growing fox, feeling no pain though the very ground the chakra touched burned up.

The soldiers staggered back, Naruto saw the other Konoha Shinobi were backing away nervously.

"Get out of here!" He shouted to them, just in case.

The fox's ninth tail came out, but Naruto found that the fox's mind was still in _him_.

That was what the fox had meant when it said they wouldn't be separated, what it meant when it said it wouldn't be able to kill Naruto . . .

The fox was still trapped, but now it had a body to control even within its prison, and now it didn't need to risk its vessel.

The Perfect Shadow Clone Jutsu was just what the demon fox had needed.

Naruto's gaze fell upon the enemy force, "Pray." He advised, and then the demon fox struck.

* * *

Hitomi shut her eyes in panic, she could feel the dangerous tag on her throat, knew what'd happen if she didn't comply with this creep's orders and at the same time she wanted to help Miyuki and Hara.

As much as she wanted to help them she knew she couldn't do anything if she died, if the tag exploded right on her throat what was most definitely what would happen, but if she led this guy off--or allowed him to lead her off--maybe, _maybe _she could do something and give Ino-senpai enough time to finish off those ninja and help Miyuki and Hara.

She didn't know how far they went, just that he didn't wait for them to reach wherever they were going before he started talking, "My name is Taki, I have no family name, I never knew my family," The boy told her, "Ever since I became a Chuunin though, everyone calls me Satsujin, and I prefer that. Now tell me of your clan."

"I don't have a clan," Hitomi said, "My dad died and my mom walked out on us, I've lived in Konoha my whole life."

"But your father, surely his family had the eyes too, even if you weren't a clan what was your family name?"

"Hijiri, but my dad didn't have these eyes."

They stopped moving and Satsujin held her out away from him, his hand still on her throat, still on the explosive tag, "He didn't have these eyes?" He asked, "And your mother, do you know where she went?"

"No." Hitomi whispered.

"How long ago did she disappear." Satsujin asked, his voice dangerous.

Hitomi swallowed a lump in her throat, "I was eight--"

"Doesn't help me if I don't know your current age, _when _did she leave you?" He spoke quietly, but impatiently.

"F-four years ago," Hitomi squeaked, a sensation very much like fear creeping through her.

But it couldn't be fear, she wasn't allowed to be afraid, she had to fight and win the instant she got the chance, she couldn't afford fear.

Satsujin's eyes narrowed, "Any idea at all where she went? You're hiding something from me, tell me now or I'll be scratching my head . . . with my left hand."

Was that the hand he was holding her with? Hitomi wasn't sure, her eyes were still shut tight.

"She left me a letter, she said she was going to see our grandfather but she never came back, I never read the letter, I didn't want to know what excuses and lies she'd come up with, I knew she just didn't want to see me again."

Satsujin was very quiet, "So she would have been with your grandfather then . . . was he a ninja?"

"No, I don't think so . . ." Hitomi whispered, "I don't think I'm from a ninja family . . ."

"When did your father die?" Satsujin demanded, his eyes had a strange look to them.

"I . . . I . . ." She closed her eyes, "Three years ago, he was doing something near the--"

"Border between Konoha and Ame?" Satsujin's voice was cold. He laughed, "It all falls together."

"What?" Hitomi blinked.

Satsujin smiled a cruel smile, "Your parents . . . it all makes sense now."

Hitomi swallowed a lump in her throat, "How?"

Satsujin sneered, "_I_ killed both of them."

Hitomi was shaking, "You . . . what?"

Satsujin sneered, "Your parents, I killed them both."

Hitomi felt tears coming to her eyes at the mere thought, ignoring the explosive tag she tried to get away from Satsujin.

But he tightened his grip on her throat, "Your mother first . . . I was just an academy student. Don't know what your grandfather was hmm? Well he was a thief. I was just a Genin then, advanced to be sure but only a child . . ." Satsujin removed the blindfold from his eyes, "Your mother and grandfather came into town, they robbed a treasury."

Hitomi felt a chill run through her, "No . . ." she whispered.

"She was like you . . . taller, obviously, and her hair was brown instead of black . . . she had kind of an accent, right?" He laughed, "Oh I could never forget her. Yes, I definitely killed her."

Hitomi struggled against Satsujin's grip but he laughed even harder, "I never knew her name, she was beautiful though, for all the time I had to look at her. See their robbery went terribly wrong, they were both ninja, but only your mother had any kind of skill. Your grandfather must have been retired for years.

"I watched them, they didn't know what I was. They got the money, then your grandfather was killed by one of our Jounin and a particularly nasty Ball Lightning Jutsu. I would have been caught in blast if not for your mother . . . she couldn't save your grandfather but for some reason the stupid woman knocked me out of the way."

Hitomi shook her head, "She saved you?"

"And I killed her. She didn't know who or what I was, didn't know I was a ninja too. She'd killed three other ninja, I was totally justified, I thought. She knocked me out of the way and shielded me from the blast with her own body. I think she meant to cut her losses and run then. She turned her back on me . . . I thought then that she couldn't have seen me, now I know better, these powerful eyes, I know she must have seen me. Maybe she didn't believe it . . . I stabbed her in the back, she staggered forward, I stabbed her again as she tried to run down the dark alleys.

"The knife got stuck in her back, too deep for me to pull out but as she fell to her knees she tore it out and slashed me right across the eyes . . . she tried to get away then, but she didn't get far . . . she bled to death just twenty feet from me, she must have been in agony for hours, but I couldn't tell, she'd left me blind. Some Jounin found us . . . your mother had blinded me but here I was, the student who killed a Chuunin level ninja . . . I was a hero, but oh how tragic . . . I was blind."

He smiled darkly at Hitomi, "They gave me her eyes, and my career took off, these really are amazing eyes we have."

Hitomi shook her head and laughed, "You're lying. No way. My mother, no way! No way!" She screamed, struggling more now, but Satsujin tightened his grip, it became a lot harder to breathe.

"They fast tracked me through Genin, I was on one of my first patrols as a Chuunin when who should show up but some Chuunin from the leaf village." Satsujin slammed Hitomi against a tree and drew a kunai, "Hijiri Shimon according to my sensei's bingo book, just a Chuunin examiner . . . he waited until I was alone, then tried to kill me, but see he made one mistake. He assumed I wouldn't be fast enough to dodge his initial attack, but with _these _eyes? It was child's play."

Hitomi shook her head, "Shut up, just shut up!"

Satsujin laughed, "You don't have a clan, you're a one of a kind freak of nature, the last of your kind to boot because your mother is stone cold dead, her eyes, her _powers _are mine now, and I've done more with them than she ever would have."

Hitomi's tears didn't escape her goggles, she whispered, "You . . . you're so . . . worthless."

Satsujin raised his eyebrows at her, "Worthless, hmm? Didn't you hear me? I killed both your parents."

"No . . . I killed them." Hitomi said softly, "It's all my fault . . ."

"Oh shut your whiney mouth," Satsujin laughed, "I don't care. You're a real prize . . . a living specimen, we'll extract your every secret, we'll replicate your eyes . . . or maybe . . . maybe I'd rather just be the only one with these eyes," Satsujin laughed.

Hitomi shook her head.

She'd killed her parents. Not with her hands but with her actions, her mother had tried to rob a bank for her sake, to pay for the medical bills incurred by her fight . . . must have sought out her grandfather because he was a thief, because they couldn't afford the bills legally.

Her father had died trying to avenge her mother, who wouldn't have died if not for her.

Satsujin was just lucky, he'd been in the right places at the right times to benefit from Hitomi's mistakes, from Hitomi's sins.

The girl took deep, deliberate breaths, "You're a pretender, a mock up, a cheap imitation--" she said but Satsujin tightened his grip so that she could barely breathe.

"I became a boy Jounin with these eyes and my own training. By the time I'm twenty I could be the head ninja of my village, by the time I'm thirty I could lead Ame into the ranks of the great nations, I could be Amekage, yeah? You though, are just a pathetic child who has done nothing but play soldier up to now . . . what will you be in twenty years?"

He released his grip a bit, Hitomi gasped and said "The person who made sure your dreams never came true, I'll be the person who kills you, whether it's today or twenty years from now, your time is borrowed. You should have died that day my mother rescued you, now I guess I'll have to rectify her mistake."

"Not if I rectify a different mistake of hers first," Satsujin said, and started to remove his hand from the explosive tag on Hitomi's throat.

* * *

Kabuto smiled sinisterly, retracting his hand as Naruto's red chakra began to blaze.

"I win." He said calmly . . . and when he opened his eyes again he was deep in the lair of the Village Hidden in Sound.

He smiled at his minions, "The fox is unleashed . . . everything is ready?"

"Everything," One of his servants, a young woman named Sachiko said. "The rescue force is on its way to the battlefield, they will arrive before the Fox finishes off the rebel armies."

Kabuto smiled, "Then it begins, the final war to end all wars."

**To Be Concluded . . .**

**Note:** Here it is, after such a long, long time, the next chapter . . . happy holidays for those who participate in them. I hope to have the conclusion released before the end of the week.


	16. Rest in Peace

**Part Fifteen**

_Epilogue_

Naruto felt as much as watched the destruction, the enemy ninja were struggling furiously to fend him off, the soldiers were running for their lives.

He didn't know where his friends were, he hoped they were okay.

His second body had been more or less given up to the Fox, and now the demon was loose, ripping through enemy Shinobi left and right. Every minute or so another ninja died, but it was not a testament to their own skill that they survived for any length of time. It was not because the fox spirit was having any sort of trouble, but because Naruto could sense he was savoring every kill, toying with his foes.

_Don't be too ruthless, _Naruto thought, unsure of whether or now the fox would still hear his thoughts, _if you don't stay focused my friends could get hurt!_

Naruto didn't know if the fox "heard" his thoughts or not but the attacks suddenly intensified, bandit soldiers trying to flee were thrown off their feet when the fox slammed its forepaws into the ground sending a shockwave that shook the earth and knocked the men to their feet.

The fox lunged forward, biting down on the bandits, not consuming them but letting his fangs cut and rip through them instead.

The sight would have been gruesome but Naruto, perched on the fox's head, was unable to see the full details.

Still, through the Perfect Clone Jutsu Naruto was sort of seeing it all from two different perspectives, like looking at a different picture with each eye and not being able to close either one.

Naruto saw the fox's tails lash out towards a pair of Chuunin, one of them was Konohamaru.

The fox lashed out, killing the Grass Chuunin that had tried to attack it from behind, Konohamaru however evaded the tail's strike mostly because the Fox wasn't trying to kill him--at least Naruto hoped so--and ran up the length of it and across the monster's back, he was screaming at Naruto.

But Naruto couldn't hear him over the screams and the sounds of the forest being destroyed; he just shook his head, hoping Konohamaru would understand that he had things under control.

He didn't need help; he and the nine-tailed fox had everything under control.

There were more soldiers now, were they reinforcements? Naruto laughed manically--no, the fox was laughing, Naruto's other body was laughing, his human body was still trying to get through to Konohamaru.

It was like being terribly distracted, the Fox's claws reached out, slashing at a new group of ninja.

One of those ninja tried in vain to hold back the massive paw of the fox, but only stalled it long enough for his friends to get back, one of those friends grabbed the Fox's fur and climbed up that front leg with shocking speed.

That's when Konohamaru arrived; he reached out to Naruto and recoiled, burned by the blood red chakra.

"It's under control!" Naruto shouted at him, "Don't interfere, just try to avoid it."

"How are you going to stop it?" Konohamaru demanded at the top of his lungs but Naruto barely heard him.

Then Konohamaru was thrown high into the air, the fox had bucked him off, one of the nine tails came forward and lightly struck Konohamaru.

It was gentle enough that he wasn't injured, and fast enough that he couldn't evade it. It went to the ground and flipped upwards, tossing Konohamaru to the ground rather than slamming him into it.

Naruto closed his eyes and focused, "The Genin," he said out loud, "we need to help the Genin."

Whether or not the Fox had intentionally followed his mental instructions it completely ignored his verbal ones, he tried thinking _The Genin, save the Genin!_

_**No **_was the silent but firm answer.

Naruto saw more enemies now; they were everywhere.

Soldiers, ninja, his breath was taken away.

_**Kill, slaughter, destroy, devour! **_The booming voice echoed in his head, _**Rend, rip, slash and maim! Kill! Kill! Kill!**_

And then suddenly the trees sprouted up out of the ground, slamming into the fox's body.

The Nine Tails howled in pain and Naruto was thrown from its back, he felt his clone's experience and the Fox's rage and chagrin return to him.

But the fox wasn't done yet. He felt its refusal to be caged again, felt its howl of rage erupt from his own lips, he saw but barely registered the large group of ninja--his friends--trying to stop him, trying to restrain him. He saw or thought he saw more than just the friends who were with him, he was almost certain he saw Sai, and Sasuke.

No time to worry about any of that of course, instead he retreated into his mind again . . . he didn't know what he would do to contain the fox now, but it had to be done . . . the mad murderous rage had to be brought to a stop.

* * *

Hitomi felt panic and grabbed Satsujin's hand desperately, keeping him from removing it even as Hara appeared, his shuriken visible to Hitomi but clearly not to Satsujin.

One of them ripped into Satsujin's shoulder, another, a kunai hit the tree over Hitomi's head.

She reached up and grabbed the weapon with one hand, her other hand still gripping Satsujin's hand so that as he pulled his hand away he took the tag with him.

Nothing happened, he'd been bluffing her the whole time.

He kicked out towards Hitomi but Miyuki knocked her out of the way.

"We may be Genin, but we're not afraid! We're going to take you down!" Hara shouted.

"No," Hitomi growled, "He's mine!"

"Don't be stupid, we're a team." Miyuki said easily, "Just like with Sensei, we only stand a chance working together."

Hitomi broke away from Miyuki's grasp but she nodded, "A team." She agreed, "But I kill him."

Miyuki nodded slightly, "If it's important to you," she said.

Satsujin glared, "You think you Genin can manage it?"

Hitomi didn't answer with words; instead she sprang forward.

She was fast; she'd always been fast.

Satsujin was faster.

He leapt up over her and kicked her roughly in the back as she passed him. Hara threw a pair of kunai but both missed, Satsujin spun, caught them midair and threw them at Miyuki instead.

The girl didn't have time to react, she wouldn't have even seen Satsujin's movement.

But the two kunai slammed into the log Miyuki used for her substitution Jutsu, the real Miyuki descended from the trees, a kunai with an explosive tag attached in her hands she seemed about to land on Satsujin but he ignored her.

Hitomi frowned, there was something not right about Miyuki, there was a slight glimmer to her, and she realized then that that wasn't Miyuki.

It was a doppelganger, which meant that the kunai was fake too, she didn't pose any threat to Satsujin because she wasn't real.

"Genjutsu is useless against me," Satsujin scowled, and Hitomi realized that she too could see through it. It wasn't a matter of being immune to it like an Uchiha, but rather taking it all in so quickly that the flaws were discernable immediately.

She shouted, "His eyes are fast, but they're just fast, his blind spot is right behind him, but his peripheral vision is perfect!"

"How do you know that?" Hara demanded, but Hitomi didn't answer.

She didn't say that she knew it because that was how _her _eyes worked, "You're going to pay for what you did, Satsujin; to the woman who saved you, the man who tried to avenge her! You'll pay for what you did to _me _even if I die making sure of it!"

Satsujin laughed, "Try it, show me what you've got."

Hitomi could see the entire battlefield in front and to the sides of her, she could see every move, every detail, she could see Hara rushing to her aid, she could see where Miyuki really was.

She swallowed hard and thought _what ever powers exist, Miyuki's God or Hara's chance, let me avenge my parents_.

She struck, moving with lightning fast physical attacks that didn't fall under any strict form of martial art. She was just swinging like a drunk and not surprisingly it wasn't bothering Satsujin much.

He just blocked and dodged almost lazily, she thrust her hands forward and felt chakra burning through them, her eyes locked with Satsujin's. He'd taken everything from her but she was the one truly to blame. If she hadn't fought that day her mother wouldn't have left, her father wouldn't have gone out for revenge, she'd still have a family and maybe just a bit of normalcy.

And how long had father known and kept it from her? The day the Hokage came, Hitomi remembered Lady Tsunade had tried to say something about her mother and her father had checked the Hokage herself.

She'd remembered it because it seemed amazing that her father would dare to silence the head of the village and yet . . . had it already happened by then? Had he known then and still kept it a secret from her?

She smiled grimly, he'd probably worried that she'd do exactly what he'd done, and what she was doing now: try to make her mother's killer pay.

It was all her fault, but that wouldn't stop her from punishing Satsujin for the act itself. "You'll learn," she warned him, "like everyone else I've had to teach! You don't--you _don't_--hurt me and get away with it!"

* * *

_Naruto was in his own mind staring down the Nine Tails, "You cannot hurt my friends."_

_**I will destroy my enemies.**_

_"_They're_ not our enemies." Naruto growled, walking a slow circle around the massive fox._

_The fox was loose, the iron bars of his prison, whether real or imagined, were torn down. Naruto's mind was a massive blank slate, an endless field of white on which he and the fox now stood._

_He sort of levitated, watching the fox pace around him and keeping eye contact with it the whole time. He wasn't sure how his own mind worked just then but he was pretty sure that if the fox killed him here he'd lose control of his body forever._

_It seemed vitally important that he keep eye contact with the beast, he didn't know if Rasengan or any other Jutsu would serve him here in his own head._

_If it came to a fight . . . how powerless would he be?_

_**The cage is gone, you cannot restrain me anymore!**__ The fox roared, surging forward._

_Naruto realized that it must have thought exactly what he had._

_It lunged for him and he narrowly dodged its fangs. Naruto rolled underneath the massive fox and saw its right hind leg shoot towards him._

_He rolled to the left and to his feet, he grabbed onto the leg and climbed up the fox's back._

_Its chakra didn't seem to burn him in his mind, he ran across its back forming the Jutsu seals for Rasengan as he moved; if ever he'd needed the Jutsu to work it was right then . . ._

_The fox reared up, meaning to throw itself on its back and crush him, Naruto kept running along its back._

_He would slam Rasengan right into the base of the monster's skull . . ._

_Too late he saw one of the Nine Tails' tails sweeping towards him, he tried to dodge it and . . . _

_And he succeeded? He'd thought for certain that the tail would knock him right off the beast's back, but it seemed it must have missed him by millimeters._

_He forged Rasengan, relieved and amazed when it formed in his hand, he raised it up and with a triumphant shout he slammed it into the demon fox's head._

_Nothing happened, the Jutsu just fizzled when it touched the fox._

_"What's this?" Naruto demanded._

_**I would like to know the same thing, **__the fox growled, __**my tail should have crushed you!**_

_So Naruto _had _been struck by the tail, it just hadn't done any damage . . . interesting._

_And Rasengan had formed, Naruto felt drained just as he always did when he used Rasengan . . . but the fox was still alive or whatever it was that chakra demons passed off as being alive . . . also interesting._

_"I guess . . . I guess we can't hurt each other . . ." Naruto complained._

_**Yes, I'd noticed, **__the fox said dryly, __**it appears I was too late.**_

_"What do you mean?" Naruto asked._

_"It means you two are more or less fused now," Jiraiya said, appearing next to Naruto._

_Naruto stared in shock, "P-P-Pervy--"_

_Jiraiya held up a hand, "Please don't."_

_"Pervy Sage!" Naruto shouted anyway, throwing his arms around his old teacher._

_Jiraiya smiled weakly as he pried himself free of Naruto, who shook his head in amazement, "All this time you've been here, in my head? Why? Why didn't you say anything?"_

_"Calm down Naruto, I'm a phantom of sorts. I'm talking to you now because the gate is gone . . . and I can't restore it." Jiraiya said calmly, "I have to explain this though . . . the Fourth never meant for the Fox to be a lifelong handicap for you, all those years that I spent trying to teach you to harness the fox I was also trying to impart another lesson. You and the fox are never going to be separated, at least not in life. You're a part of each other now and you have been for some time now."_

_"I don't understand," Naruto said, "you mean we're the same person?"_

_"Not exactly," Jiraiya said, "you broke the bars of the cage, the Nine Tails is no longer restrained . . . he can take control of you if he tries and you let him."_

_**Then I should **_**have **_**control now! **__The fox roared, it was forced to tilt its head to the side to see Naruto and Jiraiya since Naruto was still on the back of its neck and Jiraiya seemed to be standing in thin air besides him._

_"But how can I keep this thing under control without the gates? They're utterly demolished!" Naruto said._

_"There never was a gate, Naruto, this whole room we're in, this dungeon of your mind . . . it's not a real place. The gates were a mere representation of the seal that you yourself have deactivated."_

_Naruto hesitated, "But how can I live with this thing inside me threatening to break free at any moment and destroy my friends and everything I love?"_

_"Naruto, everyone has a demon inside of them. Everyone has anger, rage, hated and evil in their hearts, and most of them control it all without the benefit of a spiritual prison to confine their dark side to. You just need to be like them and learn control even without the seal to keep the fox from asserting itself." Jiraiya said, "It might be a bit harder for you, you've been riding with training wheals up to now . . . but I know you can do it Naruto."_

_Naruto frowned, "That's the best you've got?"_

_**How unsatisfying. **__The Nine Tails seemed to agree._

_"It's called "wisdom" kid, I could have just left you to figure this puzzle out by yourself." Jiraiya said, his eye twitching a bit._

_Naruto smiled faintly, he closed his eyes, and when he opened them . . ._

* * *

"Heads up!" Hara shouted, he threw a kunai for Satsujin's neck, but it was going to miss, Hitomi knew it.

Satsujin had backed up far enough, he leapt over the log Miyuki had left when she substituted and then, too late he realized his mistake.

Midair above the log he couldn't do anything to escape. Stealthy Miyuki emerged, a knife in her left thigh and forearm from when she'd impersonated a log and used the transformation Jutsu disguised by the smoke of the Doppelganger Jutsu she used to distract their attention away from her true self lying on the ground as a log.

She threw her legs up, standing on her head for a moment, wrapping her slender legs around Satsujin's right ankle and bringing him down.

He kicked her roughly in the knee but she held on tight, Hitomi tilted her head to the side, she saw Hara's kunai coming in and reached up.

She caught it and leapt onto the prone Satsujin, who tore the kunai from Miyuki's thigh and tried to use it to stab Hitomi, but she thrust her left hand out, catching the blade in her palm. She felt the blade cut _through _her palm, it didn't matter.

Her eyes were full of tears but Udon's goggles hid that perfectly, she spun Hara's kunai in her hands, then with a sharp rapid motion she moved it across Satsujin's face.

She moved her blade exactly along the line her mother had cut, though this time Satsujin saw it coming and twisted his head so that she only blinded one of his eyes. He struggled like a demon, finally kicking Miyuki free and slamming his knees into Hitomi's back but she reached down and gripped his collar, she brought one of her knees up into his neck to help keep her position.

"I'll kill you!" He screamed as blood flowed from his ruined eye, "I'll rip your eyes out and use _them_!"

"No," Hitomi whispered raising the kunai for a second strike.

"Hitomi don't!" Hara screamed.

"Subdue him, we can question--" Miyuki tried but Hitomi's hand moved, the kunai was meant to hit Satsujin's other eye, to blind him completely and subdue him that way, to let him suffer with the lesson she'd taught him.

But he moved, his knees slamming into her back again, this time with one knee on his throat she slipped forward, the kunai hit the dirt, Satsujin rolled on top of her, he reached down and grasped her goggles.

Miyuki and Hara both grabbed his shoulders trying to pull him away, but Hitomi felt the intense pain in her left hand . . . she saw Satsujin's kunai was still in her hand . . .

She brought her hand upwards and reached for it with her right. She gripped her enemy's blade by the hilt and screamed in pain when she tore it out of her injured hand.

She moved quickly, clumsily. She lost no time and with the same momentum she'd gained when she tore the blade from her own hand she raked that same blade across Satsujin's neck.

In an instant her blade was covered in blood both from her own injured left hand and from her opponent's oozing neck.

Satsujin's long sleeved tunic and his flak jacket became drenched in blood from his neck, he gurgled, grasped his neck feebly trying to stop the blood. With his remaining eye, her mother's eye, looked at her with disbelief.

"Nothing but a knock off, a cheap imitation," Hitomi spat, "you got as far as you did on the merits of my clan, in the end you're nothing. A lucky nobody."

Stasujin fell backwards off of Hitomi, bleeding from his throat he tried to move away from her, Hara and Miyuki helped her up--no they were trying to hold her back.

She didn't care, she rushed forward, breaking through their grasp, she spun the kunai in her hand, holding it underhanded, she screamed and brought it down on Satsujin again, on his remaining eye.

No one would ever look at that eye, no one would ever see either of her mother's eyes stuck in the skull of this pretender.

She didn't know why, but when she realized she could still feel him breathing she was outraged. She raised her kunai and brought it down on his chest as hard as she could; so hard it didn't come free when she tried to repeat the movement.

She used her fists, pounding on the already dead young man, sobbing.

She felt tears running down her cheeks and realized that Satsujin had actually succeeded in ripping Udon's goggles from her head, she shut her eyes on reflex, but she didn't need to see Satsujin to know he'd already breathed his final shuddering breath.

Hara and Miyuki had her, they held onto her arms as they'd done to Satsujin, but Hitomi was calm, she didn't need to batter a dead body, she'd won . . . her parents were avenged.

And she felt empty.

She cried, holding onto her comrades, burying her face in Miyuki's chest--she could tell it was Miyuki because of the thick coat the other girl wore--and cried.

"It's okay," Hara said, "it's done now. You took out a Jounin, you did it."

Hitomi just felt cold. She didn't answer him and nobody tried to say anything else of a while. Hitomi wasn't sure how long the three of them sat in that small part of the forest, but eventually her sobs slowed, and she managed to stop crying.

Even with her eyes shut she realized her friends were there. She held Miyuki who was in turn holding her, and Hara's hand was on her shoulder.

"Here, she needs these," Matsuri's voice said, and Hitomi felt the goggles pressed into her hands.

She clutched them tightly for a minute, then, still sobbing she wiped her tears away and strapped the goggles onto her head.

She opened her eyes . . .

Miyuki and Hara were still with her, Hinata-sensei was there along with Matsuri and Ino.

Ino was bandaging Miyuki's arm and Hitomi staggered out of the way so the blonde kunoichi could tend to Miyuki's thigh too.

Hinata gently took Hitomi by the wrist and looked at her injured hand.

"You guys are too late." Hitomi whispered.

"I know." Hinata whispered, understanding that Hitomi didn't mean they were too late to help with the fight, "I'm so sorry."

Hitomi shrugged, "It's okay . . . I don't feel too bad about it." She whispered, "I just . . . don't care anymore."

Hara shook his head, "You're going to be okay," he told her, "you'll see."

"I know." Hitomi whispered, "Are you okay, Miyuki?"

The other girl nodded, "Welcome to the club, huh?" She whispered. "I would have killed him for you, so you wouldn't have to feel bad."

Hitomi smiled weakly, "I've felt this way before." She whispered.

She knew then why Sensei had used the image of Akane to mock her on the day of her trial . . . she knew when she'd killed for the first time.

And behind the sanctuary of the goggles she cried again.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, the first thing he saw was Sai hovering over him.

"No mouth to mouth." Naruto grunted.

"He appears to be fine," Sai reported.

"Good," Yamato said, pulling him up, "you gave us a scare there for a minute. Did my eyes deceive me, or was that _nine _tails?"

Naruto looked around, he was surrounded by Konoha ninja, most of them were people he recognized.

"What's this?" He asked.

"You didn't think the ninja of Konoha would be wiped out by bandits did you?" Kiba smirked.

"When every bandit platoon and squad of enemy ninja suddenly broke off harassing us and converged to hit you guys we weren't far behind. Most of us linked up with one another along the way," Yamato said.

"And when we saw the Nine Tails we knew exactly where to look to find you." Sasuke said dryly.

Naruto spun around and saw Sasuke standing behind him, he laughed weakly, "Sasuke! Next Sakura's going to show up, right?"

"Is she not in Konoha?" Sasuke asked.

"It was a joke . . ." Naruto said, "but how come nobody noticed you guys? With all the ninja the enemy had some of them had to be sensors."

"I think they did notice us," Kiba said lightly, "but I don't get the impression that they _cared_. It was almost like they wanted everyone to see . . ."

Kiba looked away, Sasuke grunted and Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What? Like you guys have never seen--"

"We all know, Naruto . . ." Yamato said, then tilted his head to the side, "_They_ didn't."

Naruto looked and saw strangers, dozens of strangers . . .

Some wore peasant clothing and carried spears, a couple wore ancestral suits of samurai armor, and a few of them even wore the uniforms of Iwagakure ninja; none of them looked pleased.

Naruto frowned, "I . . . what is . . . I . . ." he said dumbly.

"They saw you riding the fox, so they don't know that it was you," Sasuke whispered, "Shikamaru is trying to convince the ringleaders that it was a summoned beast. Temari's using her clout as the Kazekage's sister to back him up but I'm pretty sure a lot of the militia will remember the legends of the Nine Tailed Fox . . . pretty sure the ninja know exactly what they were seeing."

Naruto shook his head slowly, "So what's going to happen?"

"Nothing, with any luck," Shikamaru said, approaching the larger group, "but you just decimated an small army, Naruto . . . you were taking ninja out left and right, you were cutting down soldiers like blades of grass and they saw a good portion of that. You're the last Jinchuriki, I don't think the world needs a reminder of just what kind of power you're packing . . ."

Shikamaru looked very somber but he managed to smile and say "Still, you really pulled us out of the fryer there, don't beat yourself up over it. You did what you had to do."

"Yeah . . ." Naruto whispered. He didn't want to say that he'd just sort of lost control.

He looked at the peasants holding spears, at the Samurai and at the Iwagakure ninja, saw the looks of mixed fear and hatred on their faces.

It was like going back in time and being a kid again, getting those looks from everyone in Konoha.

And that made him think of a few people who weren't in the group of Konoha ninja surrounding him, "Where's my team?" He asked.

"On their way back, Ino Hinata and Matsuri took off after them and Ino still had a radio," Konohamaru said, "they called Shikamaru a minute ago before you woke up. They're all alive and intact . . . seems they took out a Jounin too."

Naruto nodded slowly. He wondered how _they _would feel about that.

Hara smiled slightly when the three of them came into view with their would-be rescuers, Miyuki seemed contemplative and Hitomi's head hung slightly.

He smiled at the three of them and said "Looks like it's mission accomplished, eh? I hear you guys even took out a Jounin."

"Yeah . . ." Hitomi whispered.

Naruto wished he could convey with just his eyes how sorry he was that they'd been in that situation. Everyone had done a good job looking after the Genin but that Jounin had been absolutely determined, Shikamaru must not have planned for that, but since nobody was hurt Naruto wasn't going to rub his face in the fact.

"Sensei?" Hitomi asked, "Can we go home now?"

Naruto just smiled. "Yeah," he said, "let's all just go home."

* * *

**One Month Later**

Shikamaru leaned against the gates of the city as Temari prepared to leave.

A whole month longer that she was supposed to stay, and still he hated seeing her go.

She'd waited in Konoha for her brothers, Gaara and Kankuro had come to negotiate a stronger alliance with Konoha in the event that war broke out.

The rumors of the battle had spread quickly, clearly helped along by _someone_.

It looked like the Lands of Fire could be attacked at any time but Shikamaru doubted it would happen _too _soon. With Konoha possessing the last Jinchuriki the other countries would probably exhaust every avenue and resource before finally committing to war with Konoha, especially if Suna was going to continue to stand resolutely by their side.

Of course the chance of war did mean that the question Shikamaru wanted to ask Temari, and the question that Temari had been hinting that she wanted him to ask . . . had to wait.

"So if the bad guys come to invade your country, just let us know and I'll come rescue you." Temari said.

"Right, some scary woman's just what Konoha needs in its darkest hour . . . of course then again we already have our Hokage." Shikamaru said.

Tsunade-sama, who had come to see the Kazekage off, laughed, "The more women we have that can scare our enemies the less we have to worry about them.

Shikamaru smiled weakly, he wasn't quite sure what to say to Temari, how to say "goodbye" when the next time they met it could be as soldiers on the field of war.

He knew he wouldn't be fighting her of course, unlike the first time they met. But still the idea of next seeing the woman he loved on a battlefield wasn't a pleasant one even if she was going to be on his side. She wasn't immortal, and he worried like an old maid.

Since words failed him he decided to do something she wouldn't expect, and took her hand and kissed it--he didn't dare kiss her on the lips in front of her brothers--and said "Until next time, my dear."

Temari felt none of the same inhibitions he felt about her brothers and closed the distance between them in and kissed him on the lips.

Since he didn't die instantly he decided to return the kiss, if Lord Gaara hadn't killed him right off the bat he wasn't going to kill him.

And even if he were going to kill him Shikamaru would at least get one good kiss before he died.

As their lips parted Temari sighed and said, "I'll come back as soon as this all blows over . . . then maybe you can ask me that question I've been waiting to hear."

"Yeah . . . not to be too troublesome, but _if _I did ask that question what do you think your answer would be?" Shikamaru asked.

"Wait and see." Temari smirked and turned away.

She strode for the gates like a conquering general off to the front lines, "Well, Sunagakure isn't going to come to _us_!" She told her brothers.

Gaara nodded and set off, Kankuro gave Shikamaru a bit of a smirk and then followed as well.

Lady Tsunade whispered "Do you think she's right? That this will boil over?"

Shikamaru frowned, "If this were a normal incident of the nine tails being spotted by peasants and outsider ninja I'd say "of course" but . . . I'm pretty sure there's someone behind all the unrest."

"Uzuki said as much, claimed it was Orochimaru." Tsunade said.

"Whoever it is unless we can find them we may have to be prepared to fight a war." Shikamaru said.

Lady Tsunade nodded, then laughed softly, "I guess we'll just have to do the best we can either way. War or peace, that's the duty of a Shinobi."

Shikamaru nodded to the Hokage's words but really his focus was on the woman dressed in black as she walked away down the road to her home . . . away from him.

Would he see her ever again? Would she be alive if he did?

Would there be a war to fight? Would he be able to ask her that which he most wanted to ask her?

Could he ask Temari to be his wife the next time he saw her? Only time would tell . . .

* * *

Naruto was sitting on the stairs outside of the Hokage's office when he saw Hitomi.

She wore a black dress, her hair was shoulder length, straight and organized, her long bangs tamed and combed back out of her eyes, those eyes now covered by a new, sleek pair of black lens goggles.

Naruto still didn't know the story behind Hitomi's goggles, it hadn't been listed in her classified dossier as anything other than a suspected bloodline inheritance. Matsuri said Hitomi was sensitive to sunlight but that hadn't been listed either.

She smiled at him weakly, "Found you, sensei." She said.

Naruto smiled a little easier than she did, "You were looking for me?"

Hitomi nodded slightly. She sat down next to him, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for a friend to get off work." He said.

He still smirked at the memory of the look on Sakura's face when, less than a day after she herself and granny Tsunade had set out to rescue him, he and Sasuke ran into them on the way back along with several of the teams they'd previously lost contact with.

Early word was that he was a hero in Leaf . . . but that rumors of the Leaf Village's "demon summoning" were already causing a stir in the populace of other countries. The fact that Rain, Grass and Waterfall were all insisting that they had never sent anyone into Fire's territory was also causing political strife since Fire was also adamantly declaring that it wouldn't tolerate the intrusions of the smaller nations.

Military action was being threatened all around, Naruto worried that it might be another Great Ninja War or worse, since non-ninja were already taking to carrying weapons and being led by Samurai . . .

But Naruto didn't want to think about that. Everyone in the village said it would just boil over, nobody thought it could lead to war and if it did Konoha would easily beat the three minor nations' smaller Shinobi villages.

So Naruto just spent his time enjoying the company of his students and his friends as everyone recovered.

He'd found that as long as he was calm and relaxed keeping the Nine Tails in check was actually pretty doable, and he could see it growing easier with time. The Fox, for its part, seemed a bit put out at not being able to kill him, but it seemed thrilled at the prospect of a war and they seemed to be under agreement that if war broke out it would be better to kill Konoha's enemies.

Konoha was Naruto's territory, as was the Land of Fire and since Naruto and the Fox were all but one and the same that meant--Naruto had assured the demon--that the Land of Fire and Konoha was also the Fox's territory and would need to be defended.

"Nice outfit, I've never seen you in a dress." Naruto said conversationally to Hitomi as he waited for Sakura to just hurry up and get out of the office. She'd probably been given some of Lade Tsunade's work.

"I wanted to look nice." Hitomi nodded slightly.

Naruto spotted another pair of children he knew approaching, Hara running fast to reach them as if it were some sort of race and Miyuki, walking at her own calm pace so that even though Hara arrived first he was still panting when Miyuki arrived and said "I see you found our Sensei."

Hitomi nodded.

Miyuki was dressed differently today too, she still wore boy's clothing but not quite as many layers, Naruto didn't know if that was significant or anything, but it did seem like she was a little more comfortable being around the others.

She held out a pair of flowers to Hitomi, and another to Naruto, "Here Sensei, we didn't know if you'd need one too."

"Need one? For what?" Naruto blinked.

"You're taking me to see Akane, remember?" Hitomi whispered.

"You guys plan to give her flowers?" Naruto blinked, it was sweet . . . and kind of sad.

"No." Hara shrugged. "I mean I guess Hitomi-chan does."

"These ones we have are for our parents," Miyuki explained.

Naruto looked at Hitomi in surprise, she shrugged, "We're going to the cemetery aren't we?" She whispered.

Naruto frowned, "Yeah," he said, "I guess we are."

Hitomi swallowed audibly and nodded. Naruto glanced up at the Hokage's offices.

Sakura could wait.

He stood up and said "So you found out, huh?"

Hitomi nodded.

Naruto said "You know Hitomi . . . it wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was . . ." Hitomi whispered. "I . . . I was so full of hatred I think part of me knew what I was doing . . . but I just wanted so badly for her to leave me alone . . . guess I got my wish. The worst part is even though I feel bad about it I think I still don't like her. I think I might still hate all of them, everyone who teases me because of my . . . differences." Hitomi then whispered so only Naruto could hear, "I'm just a terrible person . . ."

"It's all right to be angry sometimes." Naruto said, "A man once told me that everyone has a demon inside of them; everyone has anger, rage, hatred and evil in their hearts . . . you can't just pretend it doesn't exist there's no magical cage that can keep your bad decisions from breaking free. You just have to do your best to be a good person, every one of us does . . . but then you already know that Hitomi, and you're already doing it. You're a Genin in the service of your country, you're a good friend to your teammates, and your father would be proud of you. You might have trouble forgiving the kids who bullied you when you were younger but you also feel bad for not forgiving them . . . I think you're a good person. Not a _perfect_ person, but then who is?"

Hitomi blushed a little, "Thanks, Sensei . . . I think you're a good person too." She whispered.

"Teaching them something new every day, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked, jogging to catch up to them.

Naruto smirked, "It's the duty of a Sensei."

**The End . . .**

* * *

**Note: **Here it is, the conclusion of _Red Eyes_.

As I've said before while most of _Red Eyes _was a rewrite the last chapter was never actually written which is partially why this took so long. For personal reasons when I originally wrote this story I stopped before the finale. After some thought I did decide to carry some of its elements into _New Blood_, including _Red Eyes_ references as something of an inside joke, and even using Naruto's squad though initially just as support characters, and when I perceived an interest I decided to indeed rewrite and post this story so in a very real way this story would not be posted at all without the support of _New Blood's_ readers.

So thanks to all of those who read _New Blood _for--intentionally or not--helping to get this story posted, and of course thanks to every single person who read _Red Eyes _for sitting down and--hopefully--enjoying the story from start to finish. One of the highlights of my day is seeing that people enjoy these stories and knowing what you all think so an especially big "thank you" to the reviewers, your suggestions, critiques and comments all have their own impact.

Some things I changed over the course of the story was making Konohamaru the ninja that Naruto runs into in the wilds, originally it was Jiraiya leading Hibari, Futaba, and Matsuri, a team full of young girls. When I replaced Jiraiya with Konohamaru I also replaced Hibari with Udon, but kept Futaba and Matsuri since they were both plot relevant.

As you can see however I decided to include Jiraiya in the end, originally Naruto and the Fox realize on their own that they can't kill each other, I chose to cheat and let Jiraiya just tell them so and honestly I'm happier with it this way.


End file.
